My name is Emma Blakely. And I am in a serious quandary.
Oliver Wood. Fred Weasley. Hearbreak. Jealousy. Angst. Passion. Lust. Deceit.
Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.
And no matter which decision I choose, someone is going to get hurt.

“Gryffindor wins! 160-50!” Madame Hooch announced over the intercom as I blocked the final attempt to score from Slytherin. Immediately after she said that, my team burst out in excitement and wizard’s hats went up in the air from the stands. Man, it felt great. To have won the first game of the year at Hogwarts. Considering this year was my final year at Hogwarts, the victory was bittersweet. The best years of my life were truly at this school and being on the Quidditch team made it a million times better. All of my teammates – especially Fred and George Weasley – held special places in my heart and I hoped that we would remain friends even after Hogwarts.

I made my way down to ground level, my heart pounding with the feeling of victory. I was enjoying the moment, watching the hats seem to soar higher and higher with each throw in the air, when a pair of hands lifted me off my feet.

“And here’s the girl that made it all happen!” Fred said, lifting me onto his shoulders.

“Oh, shut up, Weasley! I didn’t do all the work.”

“True,” he replied. “But you were pretty amazing out there today. Did you see Malfoy’s face when you scored on Bletchley?”

I laughed at his comment. He was right. I was fairly great at Quidditch. It was almost an obsession. Not quite as close to Oliver’s, but still…it was up there with oxygen. After all, I was known as Gryffindor’s best Chaser they had ever had…perhaps even better than Angelina. Some had told me in secret that they thought I was better, but they would never speak of it in front of her for fear of getting an earful plus a brutal beating during practice. I looked back at Fred as he kept me on his shoulders. I couldn’t help but love him. He was like a brother to me. I would never do anything to hurt him or our friendship. I wouldn’t be able to bear it.

“Hurry up, you two!” George said, running past. “You’re going to be late for the Victory Party!”

The Victory Party! I had almost forgot. Even though there was no guarantee that I would have won today’s game, Oliver let his cockiness get to him and have Angelina and Katie arrange a party in honor of our victory. There was one every year for the Gryffindor Team, whether they won or lost. But this one would be extra special, considering the victory I had won just now.

I hopped off of Fred’s shoulders, as he sped off immediately afterward. We raced to the lockers and I was actually winning until a blonde figure stepped in my way.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the little prick that ruined us the game today,” Malfoy said as he towered over me.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” I asked impatiently.

“What do you think I want, Blakely?” he smirked while moving closer to me. I turned around, rolling my eyes. Only, when I did, I realized I was up against the wall. I turned back to him, looking him straight in the eyes. I was going to say something, but before I could say it, he tossed me up against the wall and threw his tongue down my throat. I couldn’t move. I wanted to run but my reflexes weren’t cooperating with my mind. I could barely breathe. I began moaning with terror, praying that there was some way of escape or at least a breath of air. I started to get light-headed and began panicking. Suddenly, I heard someone.

“Let her go, Malfoy,” a Scottish accent said.

Malfoy recoiled his tongue and let me fall to the ground. I held onto my neck, coughing as I tried to regain some breath. I looked up to see Oliver standing not that far a distance from Malfoy, wand in aim.

“My, my, the Quidditch Captain has come to save the day again, has he?” Malfoy said smirking. I saw him place his hand on his wand. I began to get nervous again, not wanting a fight to break out.

“I’m going to say this once, and only once, Draco. Get out of here and leave her alone.” I saw pure fire and anger in his eyes as he said this. Draco finally, after a while of silence, turned and left, smirking as he departed.

“Are you alright?” Oliver asked, turning his attention to me as I continued to clench my neck.

“Yes,” I managed to say. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I can’t have you hurt.” I saw that there was concern in his eyes. This came as a surprise to me. I had always liked Oliver so much more than a friend. I was one of the few people who actually got to see his soft side and it was because of this that made me fall for him in our first few years at Hogwarts. When he said that he couldn’t have you hurt, I tried not to overthink it...but at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder what those words exactly meant. I had always played it cool around him. Nothing more than friends I'd say to myself. However, what if he was feeling the same way? No. Impossible. Oliver Wood going for a girl like me? Ha. Never.... Right?

“Why did you do that?” I asked. “Why did you tell Draco to bug off?”

“Well, I couldn’t let him get away with my best Quidditch player!” Of course. I should have known it had something to do with Quidditch. He looked at me like it was a joke so I gave him a fake smile as he chuckled. I shared an awkward silence with him.

“Well, thanks,” I said after a while. “I should get back. Got to get ready for the Victory Party and all –”

“Of course, right,” he said interrupting me. I shared another awkward pause.

“Well, see ya’,” I said, leaving.

“Ah, Emma?” he called out to me. I stopped with one foot in the air and walked back to him backwards.

“And what would be on your mind now, my dear Oliver,” I said grinning at him. He smiled at this.

“I was actually wondering…ah…who you were going to the Victory Party with?” I was unprepared by this and didn’t know how to answer really.

“Ah…well…” I struggled for the words. “Fred and George actually.”

“BOTH?!” he asked with a scared expression on his face.

“Well, as friends, yes,” I clarified. There was a brief pause before we both started laughing.

“Right, of course, sorry. How stupid of me.”

“Now, hold on a minute there. Mr. Wood, you are by far one of the most intelligent, bright boys I have ever met in my life. You are by far not stupid at all, but quite brilliant in most circumstances,” I assured him.

“This just happens not to be one of those circumstances,” he said smiling at himself.

“Do you really want to argue with me, Oliver?” I was known at Hogwarts for my strong-will and that I always won when it came to an argument over something. I even got past some of the teachers because of my wit and quickness. He smiled at this.

“Well,” he began. “I’m not sure I can win over an argument with you.”

‘That’s right,’ I thought to myself. ‘No one ever beats Emma Blakely at her own game.’

“Unless,” he started again. “I so happen to convince you that your Quidditch skills are far more impressive than my smarts any day.” I laughed at this.

“However, my dear friend, we wouldn’t have the record nor the victory we have managed to receive if it weren’t for your completely brilliant plays and strategies that you have come up with or the decisions you had to make when our plays got bombarded by some screw up in the middle of a game,” I argued. He smirked at me to which I smiled.

“Alright, alright. We’re even,” he said smiling. I laughed at his expression and how I had won at yet another argument. He got closer to me, so close that he could just touch my waist and his hands wouldn’t be very far from his own body. Which is exactly what he did. I looked down at his muscular hands, feeling uncomfortable yet so secure. I looked slightly up to him and saw he was looking at me too.

“Well, almost…” he said moving in towards your face. Our eyes met and I got that uncomfortable feeling inside again.

“I…I should probably get going,” I said breaking away from his hold.

“Oh…uh, yeah, me too,” he replied. There was another awkward moment between us two.

“I guess I’ll see you tonight, then?” I asked as I turned to leave.

“Yeah, definitely,” he answered.

And with that I went straight to my dormitory to change and get ready for the night that awaited for Fred, George, and I.

* * * * *

I ran straight to my dorm to get ready for the Victory Party. I opened the door to find that everyone had already gone downstairs. The clock read 6:00 pm. There was no way I would be ready on time. The party started at sunset, 7, and I was meeting my friends at 6:45 down in the Common Room.

‘Well, not a minute to spare,’ I thought to myself.

I hopped in the shower, shortening it to about 7 minutes rather than 15. When I came out, I put on a gold sequin tank top and some coated black leggings. I put on some deodorant and a pair of black Jimmy Choo heels that made me just a few inches taller. I blow-dried my hair and then curled it, giving it lots of volume and sexiness. My make up consisted of the smoky eye with lots of eyeliner and lip gloss, and to make my look 100% complete, I put on the gold bracelet my dad had given me before coming to Hogwarts six years ago.

‘Well,’ I thought, examining myself in the mirror. ‘At least I tried.’

When I got to the common room, waiting for me was Fred, George, Angelina, Harry, Oliver and Katie.

“Wow,” Fred and George said in unison as I entered the room.

“Guys, it’s the same stuff I wear every day,” I said, laughing.

“Well, I must say you look really hot tonight,” Fred said. I hit him in the arm playfully and told him to shut up.

“You do look quite good, mate,” Oliver added. I smiled when he said that. I couldn’t help but feel tiny butterflies in my stomach. Okay, yes, it was true. I did have a small crush on Oliver Wood. Alright, it was a big crush. A crush that had developed over years of being on the team with Oliver, beginning in my third year. But, honestly, who didn’t?! He was perfect in every way – athletic, charming, gorgeous, and, unlike some of his other admirers, Oliver and I had a friendship that made me laugh…and I could trust him with anything. But that was the problem. It was a friendship. Nothing more, nothing less. And because he had so many other female “options” within the Hogwarts walls, I had accepted that I would just simply be friend-zoned forever. Still, a compliment – or even just a smirk or a smile from that gorgeous face – made my insides dance.

“Thanks,” I answered.

“Oh, c’mon now! Why doesn’t he get a blugger in the arm?” Fred whined.

“Would you like another one?” I threatened narrowing my eyes.

“You know, you’re quite good at making one shut up when you want them to,” Fred said, supposedly complimenting me, but all in all just trying to change the subject. Everyone just laughed and I did, in fact, hit him in the arm again.

“Well, we best be going if we’re going to get to the party in time,” Harry said looking at his watch. Everyone agreed and I left, walking next to Oliver. I was about to exit the room when I heard my name.

“Oy, Emma?” Fred called. I turned to him. “C’mere.” He motioned for me to come near him. I did as he said and noticed that he kept looking around the room like mad, playing with his fingers. He was fidgeting – which was not at all like him.

“I –“ he started, turning his head to me. He looked to me and our eyes met. I forgot how big and beautiful his eyes were. So bold and green. I could almost get lost in his eyes. They took me to a different world. I loved that about them. I almost did get lost until he turned away.

“Nothing,” he finished. “Nothing, just…nevermind. It wasn’t that important.”

“You sure?” I asked. He kept fidgeting and it was bothering me a whole lot now. I knew he wasn’t ok, that something was on his mind. I hated not knowing.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. You go on down. I’ll meet you there,” he said.

“Aren’t you coming?” I wondered.

“Yeah, ‘course,” he said. “Just gonna stay up here for a little while, k?” I was still concerned and he must have seen it in me or something.

“I’m fine,” he reassured me. “Now go before they wonder what’s taking so long.” I wasn’t convinced but I let it go.

‘He said it wasn’t that big of a deal anyway,’ I told myself as I left. ‘He’s ok.’ However, before I disappeared completely, I looked back from the doorway and saw him standing there, still fidgeting.

“Fred! Down here!” George called. I turned around to see a now rather chipper Fred come down from the top of the hill.

“Finally decided to join us did you now?” I said when he made it to me.

“Well I couldn’t have George hogging you all to himself, could I?” he said in a joking way. Still, I hit him in the arm “gently.”

“Ow! What was that for?” he asked in pain.

“For being a flirt,” I said smirking.

“Me, a flirt?” he said dumbfounded, “Oh, now you’re gonna get it.” And with that he chased me across the field. It was actually kind of chaotic. I would bump into everyone who was dancing or talking. The one time, I looked back to find that Fred had spilled punch onto Hermione. I couldn’t help but laugh as he tried to apologize but catch up with me at the same time, while still listen to Hermione give him an earful.

“Just give up, Fred,” I said back to him as I squeezed between a couple who was dancing. “You’re never gonna catch me!”

“Don’t be so sure, Em. This is going to end like it always does – me kicking your butt.” That drew the line for me. Granted, Fred normally was faster and could catch up to me easily. But not today. I ran behind the stands accelerating my speed. I was determined to get away, however, he was getting closer and catching up, and it didn’t help that I was wearing heels that kept sinking into the ground. Soon enough, he caught up and tackled me.

“No!” I cried trying to escape his hold. We started rolling around, me trying to get away but his strength holding me down. We were both laughing and didn’t notice that we were both holding each other in a rather affectionate way, his arms around my waist and my arms tangled in his hair and around his neck. I ended up on top of him and he underneath me. We looked into each others’ eyes and I was lost. He moved closer to me and began rubbing small circles slowly along my back. With the other hand, he touched my face as I did the same. Our noses were so close that they could almost touch. The way he smiled, the way his eyes sparkled when the stars hit them, the way his hair flopped like a red mess on his head…it made me want to stay like this forever. We both couldn’t stop smiling, yet we had no idea why.

Suddenly, I realized what was going on. I began to feel uncomfortable and my smile slowly faded. I couldn’t have these feelings for Fred. I couldn’t. It was just impossible. It must have been a coincidence. I liked Oliver, not Fred. My head was just playing games with me, that was all. …Right? I rolled off of him so I was sitting next to him.

“We should get back,” I said as he sat up. “Don’t want them to wonder what’s taking so long.”

“Or do we?” he said smirking.

“We don’t,” I said maybe sooner than I should have. I got up and began walking back to the Quidditch Pitch, leaving Fred there.

“Emma,” he called, getting up to follow me. I didn’t turn around. I just kept walking. He ran up next to me.

“C’mon, Em,” he said once he got to me. “I was kidding!”

“Or were you?” I said repeating his line. I sped up my walking pace. I didn’t really want to have this conversation. There were too many things running through my mind. What was all that? Did I like him? What about Oliver? Would I just give him up too? No, because I didn’t like Fred. I couldn’t possibly.

“Emma, you know me. I’m the best joker at school!” he said catching up to me. He did have a point. But still, I didn’t want to have this conversation. “C’mon, don’t be mad!”

“I’m not mad at you,” I said turning to him. “I’m just…confused.” He was about to say something else but was interrupted by Oliver who we had made it to.

“Woah, you guys sure look like you were chasing each other,” Oliver observed, winking at me. I realized that Fred and I both had teased hair and our clothes were twisted. We immediately began to straighten ourselves up.

“Are you sure nothing else happened that we need to know about?” George asked, putting his hand to his chin in a thinking position. Oliver and him laughed jokingly.

“Oh, will you shut up! Nothing happened,” I explained. I didn’t look, but I could tell that Fred had shot me a look that said ‘What are you talking about? Everything happened!’ Which was slightly true. Something happened back there, I just weren’t sure what. Whatever it was, it wasn't what they were thinking. At least, I hoped it wasn’t what they were thinking. They didn’t need to know what happened because they wouldn’t care. It wasn’t their business anyway.

“You sure don’t look like nothing happened,” George joked, while elbowing Oliver in the rib. They laughed even harder.

“George, shut up! Nothing happened, nothing’s going to happen – nothing!” Fred said in maybe a too harsh of a tone. No one said anything. It was awkward and it was silent. I hated these moments and they seemed to be happening rather frequently lately.

“Well, I’m gonna go get some punch,” George said clapping his hands together.

“Same here,” Fred said exiting with him. I stood there in front of Oliver.

“Is he ok?” he asked me after they were gone.

“I don’t know,” I said tracing my brow with my fingers.

“Well, I suggest we don’t worry about it. Whatever it is he’ll get over it.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said, sighing. I really did. I didn’t want things to get awkward between Fred and I. He was my best friend and I couldn’t imagine doing anything to lose him.

“Hey, Oliver,” a girl said passing us. I didn’t recognize her, but she was pretty and definitely checking Oliver out. I hid my jealousy well as Oliver responded back with a nod and that beautiful smile of his. He could get any girl in Hogwarts – any girl. There were so many beautiful, funny, athletic girls he could be with right now. Yet he was single…for the time being. Tonight was a party…and parties are when Oliver is known to make his move.

“She’s cute,” I said, trying to make conversation.

“Yeah, she’s pretty,” he said. My heart sunk a little. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I didn’t even know what I wanted to hear, but obviously he had more interest in her than I had hoped for.

“Maybe you should ask her to dance then…” I said. Ugh, stupid! Why did I keep encouraging him?!

“Heh…maybe I should…” he said, his eyes following her. Yep. I was officially an idiot. I immediately regretted ever bringing it up. But I still felt I needed to hide my feelings. Oliver could never know how I felt towards him. Ever. It would ruin our friendship entirely.

“There’s just one problem,” he said.

“What, she doesn’t know the difference between a quaffle and a snitch?” I teased.

“Haha, well,” he laughed. “There’s a lot of things that are different between those. But no, uh, the problem is…I can’t dance…”

“What?! Oliver, come on, you can to!” I said, nudging him playfully in the arm. “It’s easy!”

He looked at me for a moment, almost as if he was thinking. After a while, he just shrugged. “Then teach me.”

“Heh…excuse me?” I said realizing he was serious.

“If it’s so easy…” he said extending his hand. “Then teach me. Come on.” He took my hand and guided me to the center of the Quidditch Pitch.

“Oliver,” I said, protesting. I mean, yes, of course, I wanted to dance with Oliver. But if I did, it would just bring up feelings I knew I couldn’t handle. Especially if he was just going to go dance with someone else right afterwards.

“Just one song,” he said, putting his arms on my waist. He pulled me in close and I knew I wouldn’t be able to turn away. I put my arms around his neck and began to sway.

“Just…sway to the music,” I instructed as I held his gaze. Gosh, he was so distracting. I couldn’t tell him to dance even if I tried. The words were not coming to my mouth and even if they would, my tongue would get all twisted up and it’d be gibberish anyway.

The song “Demons” by Imagine Dragons was playing in the background. I loved that song. I continued to dance, and Oliver was actually really good at it. Too good. In fact, I would reckon to say that…Oliver knew how to dance all along.

“You’re really good at this for…a beginner…” I questioned suspiciously. He must have read my tone, because he smirked at me. Thank God he was holding onto me or I would’ve collapsed.

“Alright, I have a bit of a confession,” he replied. I waited. “…I can definitely dance.”

“What?!” I knew it! I laughed, bewildered. “Then why did you say you couldn’t?!”

“Well,” he began. “It got me to dance with you, right?”

‘Right,’ I thought dreamily to myself. So he really wanted to dance with me. Me. Not the other girl. Just…me.

“Oh,” I replied. “So you didn’t want to dance with anyone else?”

“No,” he said, laughing briefly. “But, you see, I have my eye set on this one girl…”

“Oh…” I said. Of course he’d like someone. Oliver Wood may not be official with anyone, but that doesn’t mean he’s not already taken. Figures. I couldn’t help but feel my heart sink a bit.

“Yeah, she’s absolutely gorgeous,” he said. “One of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen in my whole life.” I could tell by his face that he meant it. I thought back to the girl that passed us earlier and knew in my heart, he was probably right.

“I’m sure she is. Any girl you like should be.” I prayed the conversation would stop there. I couldn’t take a heartbreak tonight, even if I tried to control it.

“Hey, Emma?” he asked. We looked at each others’ eyes. Ugh, why’d his have to be SO beautiful?! “I believe you still owe me.”

“Owe you? Owe you what?” I asked.

“Heh…to call it even?” he hinted. I still wasn't sure what he was talking about, which was read upon my face. He pulled me closer and leaned in to my face so that our noses touched. I was ultimately lost in the moment. I could smell his cologne, which turned me on for some reason. We looked at each other in the eyes, our faces again touching.

“Oliver…” I started. I wasn’t sure what to do. Perhaps I was even scared…this was all so new for me. And – ahem – we were supposed to be just friends!

“Shh,” he whispered, putting a finger gently to my lips. “Don’t say anything.” He smiled and I returned the expression. I was right up to him now. He moved his hand to touch the side of my face and I suddenly felt the warm softness of his lips against mine. I was shocked by the tenderness of his lips, and kissed him back with the same – if not, more – passion he was kissing me with. I didn’t want to let go. He pulled me closer to his body and I moved my hand down to his chest. We kept kissing and kissing for the entire song and after. I was skin tight with him but somehow felt I needed to be closer. I finally noticed that the music had stopped. That, and it was dead quiet.

“Oliver?” I said when I stopped him. I was going to say something but noticed that after I had backed off, the entire Quidditch Team and Gryffindor House were staring straight dab in the middle, at Oliver and I. Not to mention along with them, standing right up front, were Fred and George.

I stood there, frozen in Oliver’s arms. Everyone was staring at us and I didn’t know what to do or say. I saw Fred and George with gapping mouths open. It was expected that they, as friends, would do that. I had never told anyone that I had feelings for Oliver, and from the looks of it, he probably hadn’t either of his feelings towards me. It was getting rather awkward, the silence and everything.

“Oh, shit,” Oliver said under his breath, raising his eyebrows and turning his head away from the crowd that had formed. He looked back at me and laughed quietly. He leaned in toward me some more.

“Come with me,” he whispered.

I wasn’t sure if I could, for I was too embarrassed to move. Somehow, though, Oliver took my hand and got me to follow him toward the big Oak tree on the hill near Hogwarts. There were "ooh’s" and "ahh’s" as Oliver and I headed up the hill. I rolled my eyes at their immature motives as I heard most of the girls giggle and one guy whistled.

‘George,’ I suspected as the whistler. I turned to see if it was him and saw Fred look at me with a very confused look on his face. That confused me as well. Why was he acting so strangely? I was going to ask him something but was pulled by Oliver up the hill some more and didn’t get the chance. When I got to the tree, Oliver stood in front of me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Well, that wasn’t awkward at all,” he said glancing down at our fellow teammates. I laughed. He got closer to me and I put my arms around his neck. He moved in and met his lips with mine. We slowly kissed under the moonlit sky, loving every minute of it. It was a kiss filled with passion and romance and I was disappointed when he slowly broke away. He smiled at me and I returned the favor before giving me a quick kiss on the lips again.

“Hey Emma?” he said after kissing me.

“Yes, Oliver?” I asked. He smiled.

“Let’s see where this goes,” he said moving in even closer.

“What do you mean?” I knew what he meant, and he knew I knew it too from the expression he gave me. I just wanted to hear him say it. He moved his head so he could whisper in my ear.

“I mean…will you be my girlfriend?” It sounded better than I had expected. In fact, if he hadn’t been holding me so close I would have fallen from my knees becoming weak.

“Oliver...I've wanted to be your girlfriend for a very long time,” I answered. He smiled at my response. My eyes met with his and we shared another passionate kiss. It was almost as good as the first one, but this time it was better. I could feel him smile as I kissed him, which made me smile all the more. He tightened his hold on me and I put my hands through his hair as we laughed and kissed some more. I wasn't sure what I was feeling, but whatever it was…I hoped it would never end.

* * * * *

Oliver put his arm around me and we both went down to the party. When we reached the Quidditch Pitch, Oliver and I found George by himself shaking his head at the two of us.

“My, my, my,” he said taking a sip of his punch. “If there’s one thing I thought I would never see – ”

“Oh, come on, George,” I said cutting him off. “Was it really that hard?”

“What? That you and Oliver would ever hook up? God, no. That Oliver would ever grow the balls to come out and ask you, man, that’s a shocker!”

“Hey, now,” Oliver said as George and I laughed in hysteria. I then noticed that there was a face missing from our group.

“Uh, where’s Fred?” I asked George. He had to think about this for a minute.

“Oh, yeah that’s right,” he began. “He went back up to the dorms. He was tired or something.”

“Psh. Fred doesn’t get tired from parties,” I assured.

“Yeah, but you also said he wasn’t acting himself,” Oliver noted.

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on with him. But you know Fred, he doesn’t just leave for no reason. Especially after a party,” George said.

‘But that’s the thing. He doesn’t just do that,’ I thought to myself. Something was definitely up.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Oliver said seeing that I was worried. He put his arm around me and gave me a hug. “If he said he was tired, he’s probably tired. Why else would Fred leave?”

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s fine.” I put on a fake smile and tried to have fun, but still I kept knowing, feeling, believing that Fred didn’t just leave because he was tired. There was more to that and I was craving to know what was going on.

* * * * *

I entered the Gryffindor Common Room and was relieved to find Fred sitting on the floor in front of the couch, lying back with his eyes closed.

‘He really was tired,’ I thought to myself.

I quietly went up behind the couch and jumped over the backing, making him wake up.

“HOLY SHIT!” he said jumping about five feet in the air. I laughed as I slipped down next to him. “What the bloody hell was that?”

“Tired were you?” I asked.

“No shit, Sherlock, that’s why I was sitting here sleeping,” he said.

“Oh, give me a break, Weasley. You couldn’t have waited until the party was over? Katie sure looked lonely,” I teased.

“Just about every girl did after you and Oliver went at it,” he said. I giggled and turned my head to face him. We had that moment again, where our eyes met and I became half lost in his eyes. I was so glad he was my friend, but even more that we could never stay mad at each other. He ultimately was my best friend. I was about to get completely lost in his eyes when he turned away from me.

“So you guys are an official couple now, I suppose.”

“Yeah,” I said. “He finally grew a pair and asked me.” I laughed at what I thought would make my red-headed friend laugh too, but instead he just sat there and gave a small grin.

“You ok?” I asked.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said. He obviously was not.

“You don’t look it,” I pointed out.

“I’m tired,” was his excuse. I knew he was still lying. I moved closer to him, putting my head on his shoulder and holding his hand. It was kind of my secret weapon of getting people, particularly guys, to tell me what you wanted. He looked at my hands that were laced together with his as if he didn’t know what to do. He then turned his head so he could look at me, raising his eyebrows as if to say ‘Are you sure you want to do that?’

“Seriously, what’s going on, Fred?” I asked gazing into his eyes. He gazed back into mine and for a moment we were in our own little world. He smiled, but it quickly faded and he turned his head from me.

“I…I just don’t want you getting hurt,” he explained.

“Hurt?” I asked. “Hurt from what?”

“Well, you know Oliver. You sort of need to keep a leash on him,” he said. I suddenly felt very offended by this.

“Are you saying that Oliver is a player?” I asked, letting go of his hand and lifting my head from his shoulder.

“C’mon, Emma. You’ve heard what everyone says. Oliver’s known for – ”

“Oliver is not going to cheat on me, I swear!” I protested, getting up.

“You swear, but he hasn’t,” Fred noted getting up after me.

“Oh, please, Fred! Oliver and me are just fine and he cares for me way too much to let some other girl get in the way.”

“Maybe that’s what his other girl is saying – ”

“Fred Weasley, I cannot believe you!” I said harshly. I was getting really annoyed and irritated. What was his problem?

“Hey, I’m trying to help you out here, like good friends do!”

“Good friends don’t bring down their current relationships!” I said. “Especially you!”

“Just – ”

“No, Fred. God, you’re so irritating! Stop being so jealous!” I said not letting him finish. Woah, where did that come from? It was quiet.

“Jealous?” he said dumbfounded.

“You heard me,” I continued. “You’re jealous because unlike you, Oliver is incredibly great at Quidditch and Captain of the team. You’re jealous because you want to be the one who has all the girls swoon over him. You’re jealous because he has me! You want me and I’m already taken by him. You want to be him so you can be the one kissing me down on the Quidditch Pitch and wrap your arms around me while I rub my hands down your chest. You want to be him so you can have – ” I suddenly was cut off by a smack. I was too stunned to say anything and Fred didn’t say anything either. But then again, he didn’t have to. I was right up against him and I could see in his eyes he was mad. Not just mad…pissed.

He glared at me as he looked down in my eyes. The sting from the smack hurt like shit, but I wouldn’t let him see me weep. I wouldn’t let him know it hurt. That would just satisfy him, wouldn’t it? And I didn’t want him to feel like he had control over me right now. No. Like any argument, I would win this one. No exceptions. Ever. I swallowed and waited for him to say something. But when he did, it didn’t make me feel any more powerful.

“I would never want to be that conceited, cheating scum bucket who only cares about himself and a stupid good for nothing sport,” he started.

“Excuse me?” I said, narrowing my eyes.

“And don’t even think for one minute that I would ever, ever, ever in my life want some worthless skank that is as conceited and self minded as you. I would never go out with a girl like you.”

I felt a piece of my heart fall to the floor when he said that. I don’t know why I cared but I did. And for the first time ever, I had lost an argument, for I could not think of anything else to say. In fact, that was the last thing said that night. I turned around and went to my dorm, tears falling as I left.

Everyone was asleep when I got to my dorm, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even bother getting into my pajamas. I just rolled into bed, thinking about the fight I had just had with the boy I could never get mad at, until I cried myself to sleep.

“Good morning,” she said in a tone that made me roll my eyes. I hopped out of bed and went to the showers where I brushed my teeth and hair and all that jazz. I was too tired to wear anything fancy so I just put on a pair of sweatpants and a fitted sweat-jacket over my tank top, with my hair in a ponytail that would fall out the minute I made my next step.

“You’re not going to breakfast dressed like that, are you?” Hermione asked.

“Today I am,” I said in a dreary tone. I headed out my dorm to go to breakfast. I was about to head out the common room when a pair of hands slid through my arms around my waist.

“Guess who,” the voice whispered in my ear. I turned around to see Oliver grinning at me. He leaned in and kissed me on the lips.

“Well, good morning to you too,” I said and kissed him back.

“Sleep well?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I lied, remembering that I hadn’t gotten to sleep until about 2 in the morning due to the fight Fred and I had gone through. I didn’t want to think about it. “You?”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you, but yeah I got to sleep eventually,” he said, smiling. I laughed.

“You know you don’t have to pull pick up lines on me anymore, you already have me,” I said.

‘How could Fred ever think that he would cheat on me?’ I thought to myself. We kissed and then headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

“Hey, I need to go talk to Angelina about some new Quidditch plays,” he said when I reached the room. “It’s alright if I sit with the team today, right?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Go right ahead.”

“Thanks, babe,” he said. He kissed me on the cheek and then left to sit with the Quidditch team. I noticed he sat really close next to Angelina which for some reason made me kind of suspicious.

‘Nah, he’s yours, Em. No one else’s,’ I told myself. I shrugged it off and headed toward my end of the table. I noticed, however, that the only available seat left was next to Fred (which wasn’t too different since that’s usually where I sat every morning, except we usually have made up by the time morning comes). Fred finally saw me coming and quickly turned to George.

“George, switch spots with me, quick!” I heard him say.

“What? My own rubbish I won’t!” George argued.

“George, please! I can’t sit ne – ”

“Morning, everybody,” I said as I sat next to Fred. Fred turned his head, a little disgusted that I had actually sat next to him. He gave me a subtle glare and continued eating his food.

“Morning, Emma!” George said looking over Fred.

“So last night got a little hectic, didn’t it?” Harry said motioning to me. I laughed softly at the comment. I didn’t really want to talk about that. Especially in front of Fred.

“I knew all along you two would end up together,” Hermione gushed. “I know it’s kind of cliché, but I really do think you two were meant to be.” Fred choked on his juice before I could say ‘thanks’ which of course the attention turned to.

“Sorry,” he said to the others, making sure not to look at me. He turned his head again to me and glared some more. I was getting really sick of this, but I didn’t want to deal with it at the moment.

“So do you think you could get Ol to maybe cancel practice sometime soon to instead go and spend time with you?” Harry said, giving me a wink.

“Well, we might go somewhere but the rest of you would still have practice,” I said after laughing. Fred suddenly backed up his chair and stood up. Everyone looked at him in a confused way, especially me because I knew exactly why he was leaving – so he wouldn’t have to listen to me talk about Oliver.

“I’m done eating,” he said noticing the look everyone had given him.

“See you at practice then,” Harry said dismissing him. Before he left though, he gave me another one of those looks. Was he really that mad? If anything I should be the one mad. He’s the one that called me a skank and freaking smacked me in the face.

“Is he alright?” Hermione asked after he left. I didn’t answer and didn’t want to, so I got up and left to go to Quidditch Practice, even though I knew exactly who I'd run into.

* * * * *

When I reached the Quidditch Pitch, I saw that there were only about five or six people there, including Fred. He noticed me, but of course didn’t say anything. I went and got my broom and when I returned, there Fred was…alone. Great. Another awkward moment. I hated this – hated this! But I didn’t know what to say and even if I did, what good would it do at this point? We both stood there, not leaving but not eager to stay either. It was as if we were frozen.

“Where’d they all go?” I asked after a while.

“The pitch,” he said turning from me. There was another long pause. I could tell by his voice he wasn’t too happy to be talking with me.

“Fred, this is silly,” I finally said.

“Is it?” he answered, turning to leave.

“Yes, it is,” I continued. “I should be the one angry, not you!”

“Then why aren’t you?” he said, annoyed.

“I guess because this whole argument is silly and pointless. And blown completely out of proportion!” He stopped and turned his head over his shoulder to look at me.

“When are you going to get it?” he said. And he left.

‘Get what?’ I thought.

“Fred!” I called running after him. He didn’t stop. “Fred!” He stopped then and turned around directly as I got up to him. We were so close to each other, like the night before behind the bleachers. Except this time, there was no getting lost in his eyes. No happy feelings and laughing. We were quiet for a minute.

“You just have to go make everything worse,” he said in a tone that broke my heart. He went to leave, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“C’mon, Fred,” I said, still close to him. “We always work things out. Don’t let this be the first time.” Again, quiet fell over the two of us.

“There’s a first time for everything,” Fred said after a moment. This time I let him leave. I didn’t necessarily want to but I couldn’t think of anything else to say to him.

“Ok, team, let’s get to practicing!” I heard my boyfriend call out from the opposite side. The rest of the team had come down during Fred's and my little spat. Next to Oliver was Angelina. It made me think of what Fred had said.

‘No,’ I told myself. ‘Oliver only has me. Only me.’ He noticed me and walked down to me.

“Hey, babe,” he said hugging me. He kissed me lightly on the lips, but I didn’t kiss back. I didn’t want to. Not now. He must have gotten the hint that something was wrong, because he looked at me with concern.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I lied, giving a phony grin. “Tired, that’s all.”

“Ok…” he said, definitely not believing me. He gave me a hug and held me in his arms for a while.

“If anything’s wrong, just let me know,” he whispered to me. He kissed the top of my head and headed to go get his broom.

When practice began, everything was going as usual. We were divided into two teams. Oliver and I would be on opposite teams because, though I played Chaser, I happened to be pretty awesome at playing Keeper too. Angelina would accompany me on my team as would George as Beater, while Katie and Fred would be on Oliver’s team. Harry just needed to catch the snitch and whoever was ahead at the time was the team Harry played for. That’s the way it always was. Except it wasn’t.

“Angelina will be on my team and Fred will switch with George and be on Emma’s.”

Oliver’s words played over and over again in my head during the entire practice. It was hard for me to catch Quaffles and, of course, Fred wouldn’t even dare fly near me. I hated watching Oliver call out tips to Angelina while even if I tried to tell Katie she’d forget instantly.

I was almost relieved when practice ended. I couldn’t look at Angelina. I was still wondering: Why did he switch Angelina?! If he were to switch anyone, I would have thought that he would have at least switched me to play a different position. He was my boyfriend. Not Angelina’s! I didn’t even talk to anyone in the lockers, not even Ginny who I was pretty close with because of her brothers. I just went straight up to my dorm and closed my eyes. Hopefully, when I woke up, I would realize it was my mind messing with me. I didn’t even know why it bothered me so much. But it did. And that’s what hurt the most.

I knew it would be a bad day when I woke up and saw clouds outside my window. I looked at my alarm clock and saw that I had missed breakfast.

‘Guess Hermione didn’t bother today,’ I thought to myself, rubbing my eyes. I jumped out of bed and went into the bathroom. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw how terrible I looked. How late did I stay up last night? I couldn’t remember. When I walked out, I saw that people were heading down to the Quidditch Pitch.

…

THE GAME!!

“Oh, shit!” I said out loud. I grabbed whatever clothes I could and ran down as fast as I could down to the main hall, putting on my shoes while doing so. When I ran outside, the ground was muddy and I stepped in a puddle. Yep, today would be a really bad day.

“Ok, now just go out there and do what we’ve been practicing,” Oliver said as I entered the locker room. He glanced to me from the team and gave a sort of relieved look on his face.

“Remember,” he started again. “Think of winning.” Fred was standing against one of the lockers and rolled his eyes at Oliver’s statement. As everyone went to leave for the pitch, he glanced at me and our eyes met again, but he turned almost immediately not wanting to again “deal” with me. I, however, couldn’t keep my eyes off him. I wanted to work things out so badly. My glance was broken when Oliver came near me.

“Forget?” he asked. I nodded. “C’mere,” he said, embracing me. I felt a little uncomfortable when he hugged me. If it were anyone else who were late, especially on Game Day, Oliver would have had their head. It was almost awkward. Unfair.

‘OLLY?!’ I thought. I swore I thought my jaw had dropped, but it hadn’t. What the heck? Since when does anyone call Oliver “Olly”?

“Coming, Ange,” he said back. She laughed and then left me back with Oliver.

“Olly?” I asked as soon as she left.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he shrugged. “I kinda like it actually.” What?! Oliver Wood as “Olly”? That didn’t add up at all! But that’s how the conversation stopped.

When the game began, I couldn’t concentrate. I tried but every time I came back into focus, Oliver would shout something to Angelina that made me lose it again. Why was this bothering me so much?

‘Stop it,’ I said to myself. ‘Stop thinking about it and –’

Whoosh!

I looked to see that I had missed a Quaffle that Katie had passed to me and Roger Davies had caught instead, scoring at that. I not only missed it, I had COMPLETELY missed it. The entire team stared at me in disbelief. After all, I never miss a catch – or miss at anything! Shots, blocks, the whole shebang, especially from Ravenclaw. There was no time for explanations, though you knew I'd be giving one once the game was over. The game continued and again I was losing focus. This time it wasn’t on Oliver or Angelina. It was...Fred. I didn’t know why but I kept watching him, concentrating on him instead of the game.

Whoosh!

Again, I missed another Quaffle. The team was starting to get mad, but not just that, frustrated. I looked over to Oliver and saw that he was getting irritated as well. We were behind by a good 40 points. Fred steered his broom past me.

“What are you doing?” he mouthed, getting back to his position.

“I –” the whistle was blown before I could say anything to him.

“Time out called by Gryffindor!” Madame Hooch announced to the crowd. The team gathered in around Oliver.

“I don’t know if anyone’s noticed,” he began. “But we’re not playing our best.” He looked at me when he said that, which definitely didn’t make me feel any better.

“Well, it would help if someone actually caught some Quaffles –” Fred started.

“Hey!” you defended, even though I knew it was true.

“We’ve still got time,” Oliver said. “Let’s get back in there and keep our heads focused on the game. All in.” We all put our hands in the middle and on three yelled ‘Gryffindor’ to show that we were done with our discussion. As the rest of the team went to their positions, Oliver took my arm.

“Wait,” he told me. “Angelina!” he yelled. Angelina swerved around and came back to the two of us.

“What’s going on, Captain?” she asked. Oliver turned to me and gave a sorry look.

“I want you to switch positions with Emma,” he said finally.

“What?!” Had you heard wrong? Did he just say switch positions with Angelina?! “Oliver, are you out of your mind?!”

“Oliver, I know we’re behind but I don’t think that’s the best idea, I mean – ”

“Angelina,” he said shushing her. “You can do this. I know you can do this.” He looked at her with a calming look. “Do it for the team, Ange.” She smiled. I almost puked.

“I’ll do it,” she agreed. She then went back to my position, leaving me with Oliver.

“What are you doing?” I asked, glaring deep into Oliver’s eyes. “I always play center Chaser!”

“I know. I know this is somewhat surprising to you,” Oliver told me.

“Only a little!” I said in an annoyed tone.

“It’s just…we need to win this game,” he continued. “And frankly, you’re not playing your best. In fact, I think this is the worst you’ve ever played.”

‘You don’t need to rub it in,’ you thought to yourself.

“Just be glad I’m still allowing you to play. Anyone else would get kicked off the team for this. You need to understand, though. Ange is on fire today and well, you’re not so much.” That really fired me up, literally pissed me off. SHE’S ON FIRE?! Oh, I bet you would think so, Oliver. I wanted to smack him. The whistle blew and the game was about to continue.

“Better get to your position,” he said, leaving. I went to my new position, on the far left closest to Fred.

‘Great,’ I thought. I looked over to Fred and saw that he was looking at me too. I wanted to get lost in his eyes. It always made things better.

The Quaffle was thrown into the air and the game had re-started. I raced around the Pitch trying to catch the Quaffle. I was in arms reach when Angie got the Quaffle and scored Gryffindor 10 points.

“That’s how you do it, Angie! Great job, atta’ girl!” I heard Oliver say from his position. This really set me on fire. I couldn’t concentrate. I was certain this was the worst day ever. I knew I still needed to play so I got my head back in focus and chased another Quaffle around. I was about to score when my broom was hit.

“Emma!” Oliver yelled seeing I'd been hit. And it was because of that that Ravenclaw had scored yet another 10 points.

“Damn it, Fred! You’re supposed to keep the bludgers away from our team not throw them at them!!” I heard George shout from the other side of the pitch. I was fine, and only a small portion of my broom had broken off. Still, I didn’t know Fred was the one that hit me until I heard George say something. That pissed me off even more.

‘Is he that serious?!’ I thought to myself.

Fred looked at me and our eyes met for a minute. I saw the bright green color of his eyes and I couldn’t help but stare even deeper into them. It was broken, however, when someone on Ravenclaw passed me with the Quaffle. I watched as the opponent went off to score another point for themselves. I looked back to Fred and I stayed like that for a moment. He then turned his broom and went back to his position in case any more Bludgers came flying at him. I could hear Oliver cursing like mad now.

The team was falling apart. Well, not so much the team, as Oliver, Fred, and I. We three were the glue of the team in all games, we were what kept the game alive and, above all else, we were pretty much the ones the team looked to if a screw up occurred. Well, there were definitely some screw ups in this game and we were the ones causing it!

Again the Quaffle was thrown in the air and I went at it. I caught it and was about to shoot it into one of Ravenclaw’s posts, when the whistle was blown. The snitch had been caught…and it was Cho Chang who had it in her hands.

* * * * *

“That was terrible!” Oliver shouted as we all walked into the locker room. “Absolutely rubbish!” It was pretty rare that Gryffindor actually lost a game, so when they announced that Ravenclaw had won, I knew we'd be getting an earful later when we went to change.

“I don’t understand,” he continued. “How in God’s name did we lose? We practiced and did all the same plays that we do before! And to Ravenclaw?! What the heck were you all thinking?!” He threw his broom in his locker.

“Chill out, Oliver, it was one game,” Fred said, closing his own locker.

“One game?” he said, narrowing his eyes. “One game?!” I watched as my boyfriend stood up on a bench, angry as ever now. “One game on the charts can affect the next game and the game after that and the game after that. This was THE game, Weasley!” he said motioning to Fred. “It was the game we needed to win!” I was getting quite annoyed at him at the moment. And whether we were in an argument or not, no one ever spoke to Fred in that way, especially if I had anything to say about it.

“A game we needed to win, or you?”

Everyone turned to me, not only stunned by the fact that I had said it, but by the fact that I, Oliver’s girlfriend, the one he cared for so much and seemed smitten to death over, had actually said it. I looked into Oliver’s eyes, which were full of puzzlement, offense and, of course, he was angry about it. It was quiet a minute before Oliver spoke again.

“Hit the showers,” he said to the team, though he was staring at me. “And then get back to your dorms and rest up. WE,” he said emphasizing the ‘we,’ “have a long practice tomorrow.”

My teammates went to the showers, taking their time as Oliver and I stood there looking at each other. I noticed Fred leaving extra slow, as if he was waiting for me to look at him. I didn’t. Once everyone had left, my glance never left Oliver’s.

“Well?” I asked.

“Well what?” he said in a defensive tone.

“What were you thinking about on that court today? Your benefit from this win or the team’s?” I said again.

“Oh, don’t turn this on me. The question is what were you thinking, Emma!” he said maybe too harshly. “What was going on today? It was like you had never played Quidditch in your life!”

“Maybe it’s about time you checked in with more things in your life other than Quidditch,” I said, stepping towards him.

“More things?” he asked jumping off the bench. “What else is there other than Quidditch?”

“Well, it doesn’t help when someone completely freezes out in a game, CAUSING us to lose – ”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault we lost. I see, blaming me for the screw ups just because I’m co – ”

“Face it, Emma, you were rubbish out there! Talk about excuses! You’re…You’re…” he stopped. I noticed our argument had gotten louder. But why had he stopped? My eyes narrowed.

“Say it,” I said stiffly. He looked at me for a moment, as if thinking to himself ‘Why the heck did I say that?’ when he hadn’t even finished. But you know what? It didn’t even matter what he had to say. I had heard enough. I broke his glance and started putting things in my bag.

“What are you doing?” he asked, still not very nicely.

“I need to think,” I said quickly.

“Think? Psh. So now you start think,” he said harshly. I rolled my eyes and packed up my things even faster, just wanting to get the hell out of there. “Think about what?”

“Everything,” I said coldly. My back was turned to him, but I could tell his expression was one of hurt and worriment from the pause he left.

“About us?” he asked softly.

I paused. I had to think about this as well. I wasn't exactly sure. Was this going to ruin things? Had this argument pushed our relationship to its limit? Was there any worth in trying to continue the relationship with him? I closed my bag and left without saying another word. I needed to think, and when I said everything…I really had meant everything.

I didn’t cry. Not this time. I forced myself not to. I was making a big deal out of nothing. All I wanted to do was sit on the windowsill in the Gryffindor Common Room and let the wind and the breeze of the night take me away. I wanted to get away. Just for a while. From all the stress and these thoughts that haunted my mind and dreams consistently now. I wanted to get away from Oliver, Fred, Quidditch, school…everything.

“Hey.”

I turned around, startled at first. But then after seeing Fred, I became surprisingly calm.

“Hey,” I replied. It was quiet for a moment, neither of us saying anything at first.

“Mind if I sit down?” Fred asked, gesturing toward the window.

“Go ahead,” I answered. It wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t completely relaxed either. I felt my palms get hot as I made room for him to sit next to me. We both looked out into the night sky for a minute. We both knew what we were thinking. I wanted to say it, but how? I wanted to tell him, whether it was easy or not, and it sure wasn’t. But, I couldn’t put words to words and –

“I –” we both started, turning toward each other. We exchanged a brief laugh before turning away again.

“I’m sorry,” Fred said finally. My heart leapt in the air and a grin spread across my face.

“Me too,” I said nodding.

“No, don’t be sorry,” he argued. “Really, I had no right to be mad at you, and I shouldn’t have said those things I said. None of them were true. And – ”

“Fred, it’s ok,” I said cutting him off. “You don’t have to apologize.”

“Of course I have to! Emma, I smacked you. And the things I said…they weren’t fair to you,” he started again. He was right. It really did hurt me. I didn’t want to hear him apologize though. Not now.

“Well, you’re forgiven, Mr. Weasley,” I ended. He laughed.

“Thanks,” he said. There was quiet again.

“So…” I said, trying to break the silence. “We friends again?”

He looked at me and our eyes met. I had missed his eyes. This time I didn’t try to break away. We kept gazing into each others’ eyes, just loving every moment of it.

“God, I hope so,” he said, smiling. I smiled back at him and, suddenly, we broke out laughing hysterically. We didn’t know why. It must have been the fact that we were friends again, how much we missed it and all, and just how silly these past few days had been. Once we finally calmed down, I placed my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around my waist.

“So uh,” he started. “What happened with Oliver?” I had forgotten about my little spat with Oliver since Fred had entered the room. I didn’t want to remember, but I suddenly did, and that same hurt came over me again.

“We had a fight,” I said. “A big one.”

“I heard,” he said after a while. I lifted my head up, puzzled.

“You heard?” I repeated.

“You guys were pretty loud,” he continued.

“Oh,” I said again. There was a long pause after that.

“I may have stuck around afterwards, ya know, after the game,” he started. “Just to like, make sure you were okay.” This surprised me.

“Really?” I asked.

“Ah, Emma, don’t make me get all sentimental,” he said. “I was worried about you. I mean, you’re my best friend, Em, and yeah, we had our little spat and all but if anyone else ever hurt you I’d rip their fucking head off.” I laughed at this. It was a short laugh and it wasn’t all that funny either. Just the absurdity of Fred giving Oliver hell was a bit ridiculous in my opinion.

“Thanks, I guess,” I said. He pulled me closer to his side in a fun-loving way.

“Yeah, you better thank me!” he said in a joking tone. I smiled up at him. Holy crap, he had a beautiful smile. Why hadn’t I ever noticed this before? Any of this. I had known him since we were babies – why was all of sudden everything about him jumping out at me? Those bold eyes. His prominent yet cute nose. His soft lips…wait, what the fuck?! What was all of that? I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and turned away to look back out at the sky. I then remembered Oliver and that same hurt came into my heart again. What did I really want? Why even put up with him? Sure, he was charming, sweet, athletic and he was freaking hot. And yes, every girl wanted him and he just so happened to want me instead. But there was something about Oliver that seemed to not mesh with me, or I thought didn’t. I wanted it to, oh so badly I wanted it to. But…after today’s argument…

“I…I honestly don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?” Fred asked, as I put my head back on his shoulder.

“…If…If things will work,” I confessed. It was quiet again. I didn’t really feel like talking about it. And then he said it:

“They will.”

I looked at him and saw a reluctant look on his face. His face stayed pictured in my head as I turned away. I knew he didn’t want them to. And suddenly, I realized now what I wanted. I looked up at Fred, our noses barely touching. I touched the side of his face and wrapped my arm around his neck. He pulled me close so that I had to move my head to the side of his face to keep from our noses touching.

‘Wait…we’re just friends,’ I told myself.

‘What if you’re not meant to be friends,’ another part of me said. ‘What if you’re meant to be more than that?’

He placed his hand on my waist and I moved my arm from his face to his chest. I was breathing heavy now and buried my head into his neck.

His scent took over me and I rubbed my hands down his chest, feeling every ab of his body. I felt his hands against the skin of my hips and he slowly moved them up farther along my waist. My lips traced the lines of his neck and around his ear while his did the same.

‘There was no permanent break up. We’re still together…’

I wanted him to suck on my neck, to go farther. I straddled him as his hands went farther up my body. I could tell he liked the touch of my skin and I liked it too. I fit my hands around his neck and tangled them in his hair as he said my name. I had never felt like this with Fred before but so far, I was liking it. I suddenly couldn’t control it anymore. I placed my wet tongue on his jaw line, tracing your way up to his ear. You bit it softly while he let out a heavy sigh. What the fuck was going on with me?! I could feel his heart beat faster and his grip get firmer as he rubbed his hands up to my bra. I feared something would come of this but at the same time I wanted it to.

‘This is wrong,’ I continued to tell myself. ‘Oliver and I…we’re still…nothing’s changed…we’re still together…I…’

“Uh, Em,” Fred said breaking away from me. “You…you’re with Oliver.” I untangled myself from him and just simply sat next to him. As much as it hurt, he was right. I couldn’t be with Fred. I was with Oliver. Olly. Ugh, that Angelina! What if he was…right now…with…oh, geez.

And so, I cried. I cried right there on the spot, in Fred’s arms. Yes, I was with Oliver. The Oliver Wood. The boy every girl dreamed of having. He was ultimately Hogwarts’ Prince Charming. And he was mine. Yet, it didn’t feel like it. If it did, where was this happy ending that all love stories have? Were Oliver and I to even have one? I felt Fred wrap his arms tighter around me. And there in his arms I stayed. And I fell asleep in his arms, in what seemed like forever, where it felt like happily ever after.

I awoke that morning on the couch, alone. I tried to remember what happened that night, and wondered if it was all just a dream. I looked towards the window and noticed that it was barely light outside.

‘It was definitely a dream,’ I thought. ‘If it wasn’t, Fred would still be sleeping with me in his arms.’

I tried not to think about the ache I now felt inside, whether it was from not having Fred by me this morning or that I had to face another day with Oliver after a nasty little bicker we had the previous day. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming through the room.

“Morning,” Fred said when he saw me awake. “You’re up early.”

“Speak for yourself,” I replied. Maybe it really did happen. Maybe it wasn’t just me and my imagination this time.

“What time is it?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“6:30,” he answered, casually.

“6:30!!” I said, sitting up. He laughed. “Since when are you up at 6:30?!”

“I should be asking you the same thing,” he recalled, sitting down and putting one arm over the back of the couch.

“Oh, really,” I said, smirking back. “And who would we be pranking this time?” He laughed before he answered. I liked this subtle flirting. Even with the boyfriend.

“Who said anything about we?” he said, giving a deceiving grin. I made a face.

“Oh, no you don’t, Fred Weasley. You are not going to pull any ultimate prank without me,” I assured him.

“Ha! You’ve got that right,” he said, moving a bit closer to me. I noticed this as soon as he’d started to move. I watched his free hand for a moment. I would have normally thought to end this little game of flirting, but I wanted to see where it would go today. I was in a mischievous mood at the moment. I moved yourself into the free space so that I was sitting right beside him.

“So, who are we pranking today, Mr. Weasley?” I said, pulling my hair out of its ponytail. I could tell he liked this. I kept it going by throwing my hand through it and giving a seductive smirk. I didn’t realize how much I was really turning him on. The only thing I realized was that I wanted to. And I had no idea why.

“You really shouldn’t do that,” he advised, still taking in every motion I made.

“What am I doing that I shouldn’t be?” I asked in a sexy whisper.

“Oh, come on, Emma! Don’t play that game with me!” he laughed. “You’re still with Oliver.”

“Maybe I’m not,” I said, raising an eyebrow. But I was. That was the truth. I was only kidding, of course, with Fred. But he still wasn’t sure.

“Are you?” he asked, curious. I didn’t say anything for a while.

“Am I really that unconvincing?” I asked breaking the silence.

“Well, you had me believing you for a slight moment, I must admit,” he answered.

“Shoot,” I said, jokingly. He laughed and I realized how much I loved his laugh. It was a beautiful laugh that I never noticed before. I enjoyed it and I hoped he would laugh forever.

“So, seriously,” I asked him after he had finished laughing. “Who are we pranking?” I leaned myself against him so his arm fit nicely over my shoulder.

“Take a wild guess,” he said. I thought a minute. I liked the idea of pranking. I needed to get my hands on a good prank. It would help get things off of my mind.

“Just tell me, Fred,” I pressed, sitting up to face him. He leaned in to your ear, smirking. He smelled good. So good it made my head dizzy. Whatever he was wearing was a major turn on, and I found myself trying to take in as much of him as possible.

“Umbridge,” he said finally.

I smiled at the thought of demolishing Umbridge in a wretched prank that I would help concoct up with my two favorite Weasley boys.

“Oh, Fred, you’re brilliant!” I said, throwing my arms around him. I was so excited I forgot what I was doing. I pulled away from him, my arms still around his neck. My eyes met and I became lost. He pulled me in closer so I had to move my head from hitting his. I could smell his cologne. It was amazing. I turned my face to Fred’s a little too soon. He didn’t stop me when I put my arms around his waist. He touched my face so very gently as he leaned in towards me. I could tell he wanted to kiss me. I couldn’t let it go there, though. He was my best friend! I buried my face into his neck, but his scent took me over. I moved my arms up his chest and I couldn’t help but breathe heavy. I could feel his heart pounding and, soon, I was being laid down on my back. I knew what he wanted. It was just if I wanted to give it to him, that was the decision. I was so dizzy from his smell, I knew I'd probably make the wrong decision whatever decision that was. I was with Oliver. He was still my boyfriend. If anything happened, I'd be cheating on him and I'd be cheating on him with my best friend who I didn’t even want to be more with. At least I thought I didn’t want to be more with. I wished I didn’t want to be more with. But all in all, did I? Did I really want to be more than friends with Fred?

“Hey,” he started. I could tell he wanted to say something. Ask something. I turned my head to look in his eyes. How beautiful his eyes were. So big and bold. They showed protectiveness and genuine love. His eyes said that he didn’t want to hurt me. He had never tried to hurt me, and when he did he was miserable. He didn’t want to hurt me again. I just needed to let him know where the line was.

“Oliver,” I said, knowing that it was too early in the morning and that I would regret doing this with Fred after it was over. He nodded and sat up. I hadn’t even touched lips, yet I felt I had gone somewhere that I couldn’t go back to. I then got up off the couch.

“Remember,” Umbridge said over the intercom, “the Yule Ball Decorating Committee is to have a meeting today at precisely 4:20 this afternoon.” I had forgotten that the Yule Ball was coming up in one month. A few days ago I would have thought for sure Oliver and I would be going together. Now, it seemed like that was up in the air.

“This is bloody brilliant, Fred,” I commented, looking over his scheme.

“Of course it is,” George said. “It’s a Weasley original.” We were sitting on the bench in the hall closest to her office. The plan was when Umbridge left her office, George would keep watch while Fred and I would slip in and put a potion in her tea that every time she opened her mouth made her sound exactly like a pig. The even more brilliancy of this prank was that the louder and angrier she got, the higher the squeal would be and the longer it’d last. It was pure brilliance. Umbridge just had to leave.

“Oh, for God sakes, what is she doing in there? Having a political debate with her cats?” Fred asked getting impatient.

As soon as Fred had said that, the door opened. The three of us threw yourselves behind the staircase that led up to her office. She stood up there for a while and then finally walked downstairs. Fred, George and I were skin tight against each other. Fred’s hand found its way to my waist and, though it should have felt uncomfortable, it felt quite nice. I actually felt shivers go up and down my spine as he pulled me even closer to his side.

When Umbridge was surely out of sight, we made our way up the staircase. George used a hairpin that he had borrowed from me to unlock the door.

“Ready?” Fred asked. I nodded. I took a deep breath and walked into Umbridge’s office. The door closed behind us.

“Do you have the potion?” I asked Fred.

“Right here,” he said, patting at his side pocket. We saw her tea sitting in its usual spot on her desk. Fred opened the bottle and poured it carefully into the cup. I watched him like I was in a trance. He was trying so hard to concentrate. He looked very attractive when he was concentrating. He did a sort of thing with his eyebrows and his lips went into a thin line.

“That should do it,” he said, after pouring in about 3 drops of potion. “Don’t want to put in so much that she can taste it.” We both got up and went to the door. I went to turn the handle, but it didn’t turn. It didn’t budge. I tried again, but the door didn’t open.

“What?” Fred asked, noticing there was something wrong.

“It’s not opening,” I said.

“Let me,” he said, taking the doorknob. He did the same as me, but it still didn’t open. He turned it, he pulled it, he pushed it. It didn’t move. We were locked in.

“Shit!” Fred said, banging his head against the wall. The cats on the wall squirmed from the motion. “Shit, shit, SHIT!”

“Fred,” I said staring at the door. “What do we do?” We looked at each other and for a moment I was lost in his eyes again. We stayed like that, lost in each others’ eyes, for a while. He moved closer to me and touched my arm. I closed the space between us and stroked my hand against the side of his face. I was positive that I would have done something I didn’t want to, something I'd regret, had I not heard George squeal from outside.

“Professor Umbridge!” I heard George squeak from the bottom of the stairs.

“Over here,” Fred said pulling me toward a closet. When we opened it though, it was filled with an organized row of teacups from top to bottom. I felt my face get hot. Fred and I had never gotten caught with a prank before. Ever. And if Umbridge caught us, we would be expelled from Hogwarts for sure.

The doorknob jiggled and I began to panic. Fred pulled me to the side of her desk. Her desk was just big enough that we couldn’t be seen. I grabbed Fred’s hand when I heard the door open. I must have been squeezing it pretty hard because I felt my hand begin to shake. He placed his free hand on my knee and I stop shaking. Umbridge was humming when she sat down at her desk. She sipped her tea and I knew that if Fred and I didn’t get out of there, we would either die from laughing or from Umbridge catching us. My eyes began to burn and Fred motioned for me to move around to the front of the desk where she still couldn’t see.

‘Sure,’ I thought. ‘This is great and all not seeing us. But how are we going to get out of here?!’

She was about to press the button on the intercom when she stopped. I held my breath and squeezed Fred’s hand. She got up and went over to the window across from her desk. The door was slightly opened. We went for it. While she opened the window to let in a breeze, Fred and I ran quietly to the door and ran outside. Fred closed the door quietly behind us as we ran the rest of the way down. We didn’t know what happened next. The next thing we heard, however, was the sound of feedback and a pig over the receiver from Umbridge’s office.

“I was scared stiff that you two had gotten caught. Or worse…” he said winking at the two of us.

“Oh, shut up, George,” I spoke. “The door got stuck.”

“Which, uh, how did that happen, ol’ George?” Fred turned to his brother and raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me!” he opposed. “I was at the bottom of the steps the whole time.”

“Right. So how did Umbridge take to your little greeting?” I asked. George shivered, and the three of us laughed. We could still hear her squealing from down the hall and she wasn’t even on the intercom anymore.

I saw that up ahead was the Quidditch team. Among them, was of course, Oliver. I could tell they had been talking about me, because he looked at me a few times as I got closer. But what surprised me most is what he did.

“Oy, Emma?” he called, stepping from around the group and coming toward me.

‘Oh, boy,’ I thought. ‘What does he want now? An apology?’

“Emma,” he said and took my hands. This was really confusing. What was he thinking? He then noticed Fred and George beside me.

“Oh, hello, Fred. George. Mind if I have a word alone with Emma for a moment?” He asked this like he was asking their permission for it, like the way a date would ask his date’s father for a longer curfew. I begged in my mind that they would say no with an excuse that I could get out of. Instead, they stepped aside and kept walking forward. Fred kept looking behind him, like he was keeping a very close eye on me.

“So…” I said, trying to have him get on with it.

“Right,” he began. “Well, uh, look, I know you probably aren’t feeling too great to see me and you’re probably still thinking about ‘everything’,” he emphasized. “But, Emma, if there is anything I shouldn’t have said, it was everything I had said to you yesterday.”

‘Pish, posh, what an act,’ I said in my head. But when I looked in his eyes, I saw that they were serious and sorry.

“I…I cannot express how sorry I am nor will I ever be worthy enough for your forgiveness,” he continued. “But I ask for it. Please, Emma, tell me we can work this out.”

“What?” I asked, shocked. I stood there with a gapping mouth. I remembered last night and what Fred had said.

"They will."

It was reluctant, but then again, he seemed like he was telling the truth. I didn’t know what to say. How could I be sure Oliver was telling the truth?

“Emma, I can’t play Quidditch without you,” he said. Oh, well, there’s the answer.

“So, you only want me back so you can play Quidditch again?” I asked.

“No, no, I mean, I literally suck at everything now. You’re always on my mind and I have this big empty hole inside of me. I mean, Emma, I feel so bad and I feel like an idiot and will forever be guilty for what I said. But I ask that you please understand. Will you still be my girlfriend?”

For some reason, my heart softened and I felt ultimately sympathetic for him. I could tell he wasn’t lying, but telling the truth. He had poured out his heart and soul into his apology and I did feel sorry for him. My mouth was still gapping open, and I knew what I had to say. The words wouldn’t come to me though. So I just simply nodded.

“Really?” he said, with a look of joy on his face.

“Yes,” I managed to say.

He pulled me into the most passionate kiss he had ever given me. I hadn’t meant to, but I found myself kissing him back. I threw my arms around his neck and his arms went tightly around my waist, stopping at the small of my back. When I broke away to get some air, Oliver shocked me again.

“You’re ridiculous,” he said, leaning down to kiss me. I stopped him again.

“I really don’t think this is the best time, Ol,” I explained, trying to leave. He laughed again.

“Well, good luck,” he said, kissing my cheek.

I quickly went off to find Fred and George. I could hear Umbridge’s pace growing faster and faster as she saw me leave. My pace quickened as well as I reached the end of the hall. I didn’t know which way to turn and Umbridge was coming up behind me faster and faster. I luckily didn’t have to think for very long, for a hand took my arm and pulled me from the left and into their arms. I was going to scream until I noticed it was Fred. He placed his hand over my mouth to keep me quiet. Umbridge, the squeal dying down somewhat, had reached the place where I had been dragged just seconds before. Her face still red, she kept going straight down the hall, not seeing me or Fred.

“When I find those Weasley’s,” was all I could make out from her pig toned voice. Fred’s hand left my mouth and I exhaled the air I had been holding the whole time.

“Bloody hell, Emma, what were you trying to do, get us caught again?!” his voice wasn’t as friendly as it had been before.

“You think I would?” I replied. “It wasn’t necessarily my fault. Oliver’s the one that kept me for so long.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” Fred answered sarcastically. “Prince Charming had to come to the rescue again.”

“Ugh, not again, Fred,” I said, wiping my hand along my brow bone. I was not going to get into another Oliver related fight with him again. That was the last thing I wanted to go through. Especially to go through it twice. “What is your problem with Oliver?”

“You know how I feel about him and you,” he said like it was an obvious question. “Him and any girl at that matter.”

“Oliver is not a cheater, Fred,” I said simply. “In fact...he told me he loves me.”

“He loves you?!” Fred blurted. “He doesn’t even know what love is!!”

“Oh, and you do?” I said with a defensive tone. He was quiet. All we did was stare at each other.

“I know it a lot better than he does,” he finished, walking away. I sighed and followed him. I was quiet while I walked next to him, as was he.

“Look,” he continued, after a while. “I’m partially lying. It’s not just any girl. It’s you. I don’t care what he does with any other girl in Hogwarts, unless it’s Ginny, of course. But you’re my best friend, Emma, and I don’t want him to hurt you again, like he hurt you yesterday.” He stopped and turned to me, taking my shoulders.

“I just think you should think it through before taking him back again. Just…think about what you really want…for me.” I looked at his eyes. I wanted to believe he was wrong and being selfish, but I couldn’t. I could live with the reason he gave me. He was concerned for me. He wanted me happy. He wanted his best friend happy and didn’t want to see her mess up.

“Ok,” I said, nodding my head. I knew the deal had already been done with Oliver. I was his girlfriend and he was my boyfriend and that’s the way it was. But still, I could at least pretend to think about it. I could at least do that, for Fred. After all, he was my best friend. What all could thinking hurt?

“Shit, I’m stupid!” I said, laughing at myself. They gave me my gifts. George had gotten me two stink bombs, an invisibility potion and different items that when you bit/drank/ate/got hit with you would change color or get splattered on with different reasons why. Fred had gotten me an entire box of gag gifts (inside jokes we had had ever since we could talk) and a book of Zonko’s Greatest Pranks.

“Gah, I love them! Thank you so much!” I said, giving them each a kiss on the cheek. Fred smiled when I gave him his.

“What time is it?” I asked finally.

“8:15. If we go now, we can still make it to breakfast,” Fred said.

“Eh, I think I’ll just stay here and sleep some more,” I said, slouching back against the headboard.

“Oh, no you don’t,” they said, pulling me out of bed. “Not on your birthday, miss.”

“It’s my birthday, so I should decide what I want to do on it,” I said, breaking away from their grasp.

“Not if we have anything to do about it,” Fred said, picking me up over his shoulder. I fought to have him put me down, but he absolutely refused. I finally got him to at least let me take a shower and put on some clean clothes before going down.

When I got out of the shower, I noticed I forgot to bring my clothes in with me. I put the towel around me and walked out. When I did, George was gone and Fred was sitting on my bed. It wasn’t awkward. Fred had seen me plenty of times in a towel, so I got out my trunk and sat down next to him.

“Where’d George go?” I said, while I picked out some clothes. I saw Fred stare at my body. My shoulders, my legs, my curves…

“What?” he said after awhile, breaking away from my body and looking at my face instead. He did glance down at my chest for a second though. I laughed.

“This isn’t awkward for you, is it?” I asked, referring to me being in a towel.

“Psh, no,” he said trying to act cool. I did see his eyes widen though when he looked back at me. I heard him swallow and I grinned. I decided that I would have a little fun on my birthday. And what good is fun if you can’t have it with your best friend?

“How ‘bout this?” I asked, having my fingers walk up his shoulders and trace the line of his jaw. He swallowed.

“Emma?” he said.

“No?” I guessed. I could have stopped. I didn’t feel like it, though. Not right now. “What about this?” I got up and straddled his lap, throwing my hand through my hair. I put my arms around his neck and bit my lip, a smirk across your face. I was driving him crazy, it was obvious but I couldn’t stop. Our eyes met and I saw how bold and beautiful his were. I became lost in them and he became lost in mine.

“I think you should go change now,” he said, even though he put his hands on my lower back, keeping me in place. I moved my hand down his chest and pulled his shirt, pulling myself into him. I don’t know why I did it, but I couldn’t stop.

“Fred,” I found myself saying. I felt my heart beating in my chest and he began breathing heavy. He held my neck and I debated on what to do with my mouth. I felt the urge to kiss him but I desperately didn’t want to. I regretted ever tempting him. He buried his face in my neck and said my name. His breath made me shiver and the sound of him saying my name drove me crazy. What was I doing? I had said yes to Oliver. I was practically cheating on him. Oliver loved me and I was here in a towel on Fred’s lap. This was wrong and I knew it. Yet…I didn’t want to stop.

‘I…I have…What if Oliver…’ I kept thinking. Fred’s nose traced along the side of my face and I slid my hands down his chest feeling every athletic ab and muscle that was on it. Fred moved his face so that his nose was touching mine. I put my hand on his face and held it there, debating on what to do next. It then occurred to me what I had to do. I quickly dropped my arms and moved my head away from him. He let go of me suddenly, as if realizing the same thing I had at the same time, and put his hand through his hair.

“I’m just gonna…” I motioned toward the showers.

“Yeah, yeah, uh, take your time,” he said looking at the floor. I got up and grabbed my clothes. When I closed the door, I sulked against it and slid down. What was wrong with me? Why did I feel the need, the urge, the whatever I felt to put our friendship at risk like it was a game? I had a boyfriend, one that apparently loved me. I fought back the tears and got dressed. When I got out, Fred was still there.

“All set?” he asked in a cheery tone, as if nothing had just happened. This boggled my mind. How could he act like that?

“Yep,” I asked in the same kind of tone. It was my birthday. I wouldn’t deal with it right now. I would be 17 at exactly 11:11 p.m. Fred bent down, nodding for me to get on his back.

“Oh, no,” I said when I realized what he wanted to do.

“Oh, yes,” he said. And he picked me up and swung me over his shoulder again and carried me down to breakfast.

* * * * *

I had given up by the time we made it to the Grand Hall. Fred had carried me down on his shoulder the entire way to breakfast, and he surely wasn’t going to put me down now.

“You wanna get down now?” he asked when we were near the entrance.

“Sure,” I said. He put me down and I was about to go in, when he grabbed my arm.

“You really liked your present?” he asked, a look of uncertainty on his face.

“Of course, Fred!” I said. “I loved them. Why would you ask me that?” He was quiet for a minute.

“I didn’t want to give you that,” he confessed.

“What?” I wondered. “Then why did you get it for me?” Again, quiet.

“I wanted to get you something else,” he said.

“Fred,” I started. “What you got me, was the best present I ever got. It was absolutely hilarious. And only you and me know why it’s so funny. I loved it, Fred. Don’t you worry about that.” He smirked.

“Really?” he asked.

“Definitely,” I confirmed.

“Because,” he continued. “I believe I could have given you…better.” He winked and walked in. It took me a minute to figure out what he was implying. Once I did, my mouth dropped in shock.

“Fred Weasley!” I shouted following him. He laughed and raced down to our table next to George before I could hit him. I noticed that there was a note sitting on my plate when I sat down.

“Happy Birthday!” everyone chimed in.

“What’s this?” I asked referring to the note.

“Oliver brought it over,” Harry explained. “He told us not to open it until you got here.”

“Oh, please, Emma, open it, please,” Hermione begged. “What was taking you so long to get down here anyway? I’ve been waiting like crazy for you to get down here!”

“Shower?” I answered.

“Well, you couldn’t have gone any slower. Hermione was about to set it on fire to get it open,” Ron said in his annoyed tone. I laughed and started to open it. I hid it from everyone at the table, though I could feel Fred peeking over my shoulder:

“A night of absolute wonder and amazement,” Fred said in a mocking tone. I glared at him and hit him in the arm.

“SHEESH!” he expressed, clutching where I hit him. I gave him a cheesy smile and finished eating my food. I was about to get up, as was everyone else, when a pair of hands formed around my waist.

“Happy Birthday, love,” he said and kissed me on my jaw line.

“Haha, hey Oliver,” I said giving him a peck on the lips.

“Ugh, I’m out of here,” Fred said getting up. He had meant it as a joke, but of course, I knew what he was feeling. Everyone else got up too and Oliver and I left the Dining Hall.

“Get my note?” he asked.

“Yes, it was very sweet,” I said. He gave me a big smile.

“Not as sweet as you,” he argued.

“Oh, sheesh, Oliver, you can’t beat me in an argument, you know that!” I said. He moved closer to me. We were sitting on the bench outside the doorway. He placed his right hand across my knees to touch my left hand.

“I think I can beat this one,” he challenged. He leaned in and kissed me, moving his hand slowly up my arm. I put my hand on his shoulder and his hand reached my face. We kept kissing for another minute and then slowly broke away.

“You totally lost,” I said, staring in his eyes.

“I love you,” he said, gazing back. He kissed me again, a little more aggressively. My hands were clutching his neck and his arms were tight around my waist. His tongue moved along my lip, asking for permission to open. I was about to open my mouth when we were interrupted by a familiar, quite annoying, voice.

“Ms. Blakely!” Umbridge said, her face tense and her lips pursed. She was going to deduct a lot of points, when she saw Oliver was next to me.

“Mr. Wood?!” she said shocked.

“Uh, hello, Professor Umbridge,” he said, embarrassed. He was flattening out his shirt and I was fixing my hair.

“Did you forget the rules of sexual interactions between students?” she questioned, her voice stiff.

“Professor, we weren’t going to – ”

“Quiet!” she said, interrupting me. She didn’t like me at all. It was a good thing Oliver was one of her favorites.

“I’m sorry, Professor, it won’t happen again,” he apologized. He shot me a wink that Umbridge wouldn’t be able to see.

“I don’t care that it won’t happen again, the rule’s already been violated!!” she fired back. I winced as she said this. Oliver noticed and took my hand. Everything seemed better when he held my hand, or was at least with me.

“Professor, we didn’t notice that we were getting that into things and we ask that you accept our apology,” Oliver said, calmly. Umbridge thought for a minute of what to do. I figured it was a decision between detention or deducting 50 points from Gryffindor. But her decision shocked me.

“I’ll let it slide this time,” she said, unwillingly. I could tell because her face was still scrunched and flushed with anger. She really hated me. She probably would have loved to have given me detention. Detention and take off 800 points, except Oliver was with me. She didn’t like me at all. Maybe she found out it was me who put in the potion. Maybe she saw me.

‘Oh, well,’ I thought. It actually made me want to laugh. She left and Oliver gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“What was that for?” I asked after he did it.

“I wasn’t finished yet, but I’m substituting,” he said with a wink. You laughed.

"Careful," I said. "We don't want to violate any rules, now." I slowly kissed him on the lips, making sure he didn't break away too soon.

“Oh really?” I asked, getting up. “Then maybe we should move somewhere more private…” I bit my lip and he got the biggest smile on his face.

“I like that idea,” he said. He scooped me up and ran toward the Gryffindor Common Room.

“We aren’t going all the way, though,” I confirmed. He stopped.

“Aww, come on, baby, why not?” he whined.

“Haha, it’s my birthday! I don’t wanna feel disgusting on it. And besides, I get to decide what to do today. I can change my mind,” I said, smirking. He smirked back and pressed his lips to mine. The next thing I knew, I was in his dorm and on top of him on his bed.

“Hooch wants to see you,” Fred explained turning to leave. Oliver moaned and rolled me off of him. He cursed under his breath and buttoned back up his shirt.

“I’ll be back,” he said giving me a peck on the lips before getting up. He shot Fred a disgusted look as he left the room. I did, too, once Oliver was gone.

“What is your problem?” I asked.

“How was I supposed to know you were in the middle of shagging?! It’s not like I knew exactly what Oliver was doing in there!” he defended.

“We weren’t shagging,” I said. Though, I was certain that’s probably where things would have gone eventually. “I told him we were to do none of that.”

“Yeah, well, I heard noises that didn’t just come from making out,” he replied.

“I thought you didn’t know what he was doing in here,” I mentioned. He looked taken aback.

“I…” Fred stammered. My eyes got wide with anger.

“You thought he was with someone else!” I accused.

“I was just doing what Hooch asked me too, that’s all I came for,” he said.

“Ugh!” I said getting up. I was wearing one of Oliver’s shirts. I took it off and picked up mine. I was wearing a very sexy lightly lined red lace bra. It was a push up and gave me extra cleavage, so even though it shouldn’t have surprised me, I was incredibly irritated when I saw Fred staring.

“What?!” I asked harshly.

“What do you want me to do Em, you’re undressing right in front of me!” he said, defensive. I threw Oliver’s shirt at him and put on mine.

“Look,” he said as I got up to leave. “I guess I owe you an apology. Meet me in the Common Room at 10 p.m.”

“Fred –” I started.

“Seriously, it’s your birthday, I’ll make this up to you,” he promised. I looked at him. I wanted to stay mad at him. But, like always, I couldn’t.

“You know what I absolutely hate, Fred?” I said getting up. He got a worried look on his face. I laughed shortly. “I can never stay mad at you.”

He smiled and pulled me into a hug. It was a very nice hug. I could smell his scent again. I closed my eyes and put my arms around his middle. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Happy birthday,” he whispered sweetly. He kissed the top of my head. For some reason, this was shocking. It was short but it still made me feel…happy. It felt right. And for some reason, I was completely ok with that. I looked up and met his eyes.

“Thanks,” I said smiling. He let go of me but I put my arms around his neck.

“No,” I said. “Not yet.” He got a curious look on his face but put his hands around me anyway. It felt good to be in his arms. It didn’t feel wrong like before. This felt ok. It felt right.

‘If he just kissed my forehead and this is what I feel like,’ I wondered. He put his lips against my head again. I moved my head and met his gaze again. I stayed like that for a minute. My heart started pounding again and my stomach was going crazy. It didn’t help that he pulled me closer to him.

“Fred,” I started. I closed my eyes and I felt his arms fit on my waistline. I put my hands along his face so I could face him. We were both breathing heavy, drenched in temptation. I calmed myself down and slowly moved in closer to his face. He moved his so he was barely touching my lips. We knew what was going to happen. And what shocked me was, I wanted it to. Suddenly, I was pushed on the bed and the door opened.

“Weasley!” Oliver said from the doorway. “Practice! Now!”

“Just Weasley?” I asked, surprised.

“It’s your birthday, baby, you don’t have to play today,” he explained, going over to me. Fred sighed and held up both of his hands, indicating 10.

‘Don’t forget,’ he mouthed, as he left.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to practice?” I asked.

“Baby, you’re my star player, you don’t need it,” he assured me. I raised an eyebrow remembering the game I had previously played.

“You sure about that?” I questioned. He bit his bottom lip and thought for a minute. He remembered it too.

“One practice isn’t going to hurt,” he said. “Besides, it’s your birthday, consider it a present.” He kissed the top of my head and walked to the door.

“I love you,” he said and closed the door. I sat on his bed with a look of confusion. Because I realized something. Oliver’s kiss didn’t feel right.

It was 9:45. Fred had told me to meet him in the Common Room at 10 p.m. for some sort of apology. I wore a red tank top that was tight with an oversized silver necklace around my neck. I wore dark wash skinny jeans and my lucky converse shoes. My hair was down and I had on eyeliner and mascara. I was about to open the door when a knock beat me to it. I opened the door and there stood Oliver.

“Hey, babe,” he greeted, giving me a kiss on the cheek. In his hand was a rose and he was dressed casually but not too casual.

“Hey,” I said, surprised. “What’s all this? I thought we weren’t meeting until 11.”

“I couldn’t wait that long,” he explained sweetly. “Besides, it’s not like you were going anywhere anyway.”

“Actually,” I started. “Fred had asked me to see him at – ”

“Psh, Weasley. Of course,” he said irritated.

“All he was going to do was apologize for walking in on us,” I explained.

“Now that is a reason to apologize,” Oliver said. “He should apologize twice. Thinking that you and I shagged. Because he interrupted us we didn’t even get to that part!”

“Uh! Oliver!” I hit him playfully in the arm. He laughed and kissed my forehead.

"Kidding," he said. I rolled my eyes as he took my hand and led me to the window. Outside was his broom.

“For you,” he said extending his arm. He got on it and patted behind him. I got on and slid my hands around his waist. I put my head on his shoulder and rode around the Quidditch Pitch. It was a beautiful night. The stars were lit in exactly the right places. After a while of gazing at the stars, we landed under the big Oak tree where Oliver had first asked me to be his girlfriend. Beneath it was a picnic that he had obviously planned for my birthday.

“Oh, Oliver,” I said when we hopped off the broom. We ate under the stars and talked about everything. We cuddled under the tree and before I knew it, it was 11:10.

“Well, in exactly one minute, you’ll be 17,” he said, glancing at his watch.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” I said, jokingly. We shared a laugh and then he leaned in to kiss me.

“Mmm, thanks,” I said when he broke away. He smiled and went back in for more, his hands framing my face and tangled in my hair. My arms were around his waist. I then realized that I wasn't enjoying it with Oliver. I kept seeing Fred in my mind. I started to feel really uncomfortable and I broke away.

“You ok?” he asked seeing my expression.

“Yeah,” I lied. I didn’t know what I was feeling. I figured that was the easiest excuse though. “I’m good.” I went in to kiss him again and when I closed my eyes again I saw Fred’s face. This was getting really irritating. I figured that it was the guilt of not meeting with him. Once I agreed on that option, his face went away. Yep, that was definitely the reason. We kissed the rest of the time. Oliver said my name when he broke away and that got me even more turned on. I clutched his shirt in my hands and made my hands up his chest. We finally calmed down and broke away.

“I love you,” Oliver said. He was saying it a lot lately. I knew he wanted to hear me say it. I wasn't sure though, if I did love him. I knew I didn’t love him. But I did love him in some sense.

“I love you too,” I said. His face brightened with happiness.

“Really? You do?” he asked. I nodded. He moved in and kissed me. It was 11:11 p.m. I was seventeen and had just lied to Oliver Wood.

* * * * *

When I woke up the next morning, I tried to make sense of what happened last night. I had had the weirdest dream. I was walking down an aisle in a wedding dress with a veil covering my face. I couldn’t see who the groom was because my veil was so huge. I saw my dad crying and Angelina, Katie and Hermione were my bridesmaids. I was in a big church with a ton of people as my guests. When I got to the front, the groom pulled the veil off of my face so he could look at me. The groom was Fred. We said the vows and when the priest said “I now pronounce you husband and wife…” we had the most passionate kiss. When I broke away though, I saw Oliver there. And I was pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Oliver James Wood.

That’s when I woke up. I realized that I was sweating like mad and was burning hot. I pulled the covers off of me and got in the shower.

“Oliver,” I said. No fuzzy feelings.

‘Fred,’ I thought to myself. I felt a trickle go down my spine. What was it with me? The water was cold when it ran down my back. I didn’t mind because of how hot I felt. I wondered if I was getting a fever. My head did feel rather dizzy.

I got out and blow dried my hair. I put on some jeans and a gray T-shirt and went to brush my teeth. I kept thinking about the dream I had. What the heck did that mean? It made no sense. At first, I was getting married to Fred. But when I broke away from the kiss, Oliver was standing in front of me and I was announced as Mrs. Oliver Wood. It made no sense what so ever. Yet, I felt like it had to.

I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was 7:30am. It was shocking I was up this early, especially from being up so late with Oliver last night. I then remembered about Fred.

‘Crap,’ I remembered. ‘Ugh, he’s going to kill me!’ I hadn’t ever showed up to his apologetic reunion. And I had sort of promised him I would, too. I had blown him off for a night with Oliver. What kind of a friend was that?

After awhile, I made my way down to breakfast but no one looked particularly thrilled to see me when I finally reached the table.

“Ugh, there she is,” I heard Ron mutter when I was close enough to the table that I could hear. Him and his brothers glared at me.

‘Ok, what the heck?’ I wondered. Fred got up when I sat down.

“Ok, what the heck?” I asked when he was gone. No one said anything. “Will you at least explain to me why I’m being given the silence treatment?”

“Not until you explain why you didn’t show up last night!” Hermione blurted out. Harry pulled her back.

“What? Show up?” I asked. “Fred told me to meet him at 10. Is that what this is about? You’re siding with him and – ”

“Were you with Oliver?” Harry asked. His tone was sour too. “At 10 last night?”

“He came by early,” I said. Ron rolled his eyes and stabbed his food with his fork. “I thought it’d be ok since all Fred wanted to do was apologize for – ”

“Yeah, you thought,” George interrupted. “Look, Emma, that was an excuse to get you down to the Common Room where we were having a surprise birthday party for you.” I was shocked and felt instantly guilty when I heard this.

“It was? You did?” I asked. I got a sad look on my face. One of guilt and apology.

“Yeah, but it's a little hard to do that when the birthday girl never shows up!” Ron said nastily. “You promised Fred you would show anyway! How do you think he feels?!”

“I had no choice!” I argued. “Oliver – ”

“No, you had a choice, Emma,” Harry said getting up. “You chose Oliver over us. That says it all.” He left and Hermione followed. Ron shook his head and left as well. George just sat there and said nothing.

“George, you understand, don’t you? If I would have known – ”

“I don’t know, Emma,” he started. “You hurt Fred really bad. You hurt all of us pretty bad.” He got up then and left me at the table alone. Not completely, obviously, there were others around. But my friends, my best friends, the people that most mattered, were gone. My very best friend the first to leave.

“So he was like, ‘Will you go to the ball with me?’ and I was like, ‘Oh. My. Gosh. Are you serious?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!’ and he was like, ‘Great!’ and I was like, ‘Ahhh!’ and so…” Katie kept going on and on about how George had asked her to the Yule Ball. Katie liked George a lot. Seriously, a lot. She'd had a crush on him since she was a first year. I was pretending to listen as I searched through the dresses they had at Hogsmeade.

“Oh. My. Gosh,” she said when she saw a dress. She squealed and jumped up and down. “This is it, Emma, this is it!” She ran to the dressing room and tried on a purple knee high dress that flared out at the bottom.

“It looks really great on you,” I said when she walked out.

“You really think so?” she asked, excited.

“Oh, yeah, Katie, it’s perfect for you!” I assured her. She shrugged.

“Ok,” she said, doing a really bad job of hiding a smile. I could tell she really liked it. “It’s just I want to have the perfect dress for George.” Well, that was understandable.

“Oh my gosh, you’ll never guess who asked Angelina to the Yule Ball!” she said.

“Who?” I asked completely uninterested. I picked up a zebra strapless mini dress and went to try it on.

“Fred Weasley!” she gushed. She was almost as excited as she was about George asking her. I, on the other hand, were completely shocked, even though I had no reason to be.

“What?!” I said a little too soon.

“Well, wait, you would have known right? Fred’s your best friend. He told you, didn’t he?” she questioned in a confused tone.

“No, he forgot to mention that,” I said, matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” she said.

“So,” I said, from inside the dressing room. “When did this all happen?” I had a nasty tone behind that one.

“This morning at breakfast,” Katie said. “It was so cute! He just came up and asked her when she was about to leave.” That actually didn’t sound too fancy but Katie thought that any guy that asked a girl on a date, no matter how unoriginal it was, was the cutest thing in the world.

“Sure sounds cute,” I said walking out.

“OH MY GOSH! YOU HAVE TO GET THAT!!! YOU LOOK SO FREAKING SEXY!!!” Katie said, her mouth dropping.

“I don’t know,” I said, considering another dress that had caught my eye.

“No, get that one, Emmie, it’s amazing on you!” she tried to convince me.

“Maybe,” I said. I went back in the dressing room and took it off. “So…what did Ange say?”

“Yes, of course!” Katie said it like it was obvious. “How could she say no? It was so sweet. He took her arm and took her aside, got down on one knee and asked her.” Now that did sound cute. And a little too close to a proposal. But still, I never knew that Fred had a thing for Angelina. I actually thought he had a thing for…well, it didn’t matter because I was apparently wrong.

“Oh. Well, how sweet of him,” I said coldly. I hadn’t meant to sound harsh, but I did. I walked out and got the other dress and went to try it on.

“Never been better,” I said, walking out. Katie’s mouth dropped longer than the first time.

“Oh. My. Gosh,” she said. “Em, you look stunning!”

“Thanks,” I said. I really liked the dress. It was very, very pretty. It was a beaded gold mermaid halter dress with tulle at the bottom quarter. The entire upper three-quarters of it was gold beads and the back was open so that it barely covered your butt. It literally was perfect and you fell in love with it immediately.

“I lied. You’re buying that one.” Katie demanded. “It matches both you and Oliver’s skin tones perfectly! And all the boys are gonna be so jealous!”

“Uh-huh,” I said, uninterested. My mind kept thinking of Angelina and Fred. How could that have happened? Fred liked Ange? That didn’t make sense.

“Emma?”

“Sorry, Katie, what did you say?” I asked, coming back from my thoughts.

“We need to get back,” she informed. “Oliver won’t be happy if we’re late for practice. Well, he won’t be happy with me.” She winked and laughed. I paid for the dress and waited outside for Katie. For some reason my heart was sore now. Sore, and it felt like it was beating out of my chest. I had no idea why, but I couldn’t keep my mind off Fred.

‘I love Oliver,’ I kept telling myself. After a while it almost sounded like I was reminding myself that I did.

“Ready to go?” Katie asked when she came out, dress in hand.

“Yeah,” I said getting up from where I was sitting. I walked back pretending to listen to Katie when really I was listening to myself.

“I told Professor Lupin I’d help him with something in like, one minute,” she said rolling her eyes. She handed me her dress.

“Take this up stairs for me?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said. Katie went on her merry way to Lupin’s room while I went to the staircase.

I walked up to the girl dormitories. I heard laughing and screeching from Katie’s room and I wasn't even close to it yet. It sounded like Angelina, but there was someone else in with her. I walked up and opened the door.

“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry!” I said when Angelina screamed. It was only then that I realized Angelina was not alone…and naked.

“OLIVER?!” I said in complete shock.

“Uh, oh shit,” I heard. “Emma, this isn’t what it looks like.” He got up, covering his manhood with the bed sheet.

“Oh my God,” I said. “You…you…”

“Emma, I can explain,” he started, obviously embarrassed. I dropped the dresses on the floor and turned to leave. He grabbed my arm.

“Emma, he told me you had broken up!” Angelina cried from the bed.

“Is that what you think, Oliver? Is that what you want?! Do you want to break up with me?” I asked all of this in a very nasty voice.

“No, Em, of course not –”

“Then why were you having sex with Angelina!?! My supposed best friend!!!” I emphasized on the word 'supposed'. Angelina cringed in embarrassment. It got really quiet then.

“I don’t know,” he muttered honestly.

“Then I don’t know why I’m with you,” I said. I left the room but Oliver followed me down the hall.

“Emma, don’t leave me!” he begged. I was on the brink of tears and didn’t want to face him. “Emma! Emma, I love you!” I stopped when he said that.

“And I don’t love you either,” I confessed. And with that I turned and left. When he didn’t follow me, I knew that I was right. I knew he knew that I was right. He didn’t love me. He loved Angelina, if he even knew what love was. I sure didn’t love him. I found myself running faster and faster away from anything. Everything. The tears were falling down fast and hard and long and I could hardly see anything. Finally, I saw a head of red hair and flew into his arms. He held his arms around me and I cried. I cried the hardest I ever cried. And here I stood in the arms of Fred Weasley, just loving that he wasn’t saying anything. The love was lost when he did.

“What did he do?” he asked plainly.

“Angelina…him…bed,” I managed to get out. My hands were clutching his shirt, covering my face. I felt him tilt his head on mine and my hands stopped shaking.

“I’m so sorry, Emma,” he said. I closed my eyes which made them burn and I felt tears coming on again.

“He said he loved me,” I added. “I…I didn’t love him…but still, there was…something.” His grip around me grew tighter and I put my arms around him from feeling squished.

“Am I an idiot, Fred?” I asked. He pulled his head away to look at me.

“No,” he said. “I am.”

He didn’t have to explain. I knew what he meant. I pressed my face against his chest and sobbed like crazy. Tomorrow was the Yule Ball. Everyone had a date and there was no way I was going alone. And with the fact of how much I spent on my dress, I was not staying home either. I would have to go with Oliver. And Fred would be going with Angelina. My throat began to choke up with extra tears. Fred rubbed my back and I calmed down some. The tears had stopped and I let go of him.

“Your shirt is soaked,” I said rubbing where I had been crying.

“I don’t mind,” he said stroking my hair. I smiled.

“Thanks for letting me cry on you,” I said. He smiled too, then, and laughed softly. He put his head against mine.

“Thanks for never staying mad at me,” he said. He kissed my forehead and brought his head back down to face me. I smiled and rubbed the wet area on his chest.

“I think I’m gonna take a shower,” I said, letting go.

“You’re gonna be ok?” he asked, concern in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I answered. What Fred didn’t know was, I was more than fine. And the reason because I knew I wasn't living a lie anymore.

I blinked back tears as Hermione helped clasp the hook on my necklace. I still wasn't over the other day's big event where I walked in on my boyfriend (sorry...ex-boyfriend) and close friend (sorry...ex-close friend) in the middle of a shag fest.

“You could have called it off,” she suggested. “You could have told him to go with Angelina and you with Fred.”

“It’s too late now,” I debated.

“Perhaps,” she said. “But you never know.” She went in the bathroom to fix her hair. That was dangerous for me now, to be alone. Every time I was, I thought of Oliver. It hurt to think about him. I had something with him, that's the truth. I gave him as much as I could. Apparently, it wasn’t enough. How weird it would be to be going to the Yule Ball with my ex boyfriend. That itself was going to be the talk of the night. Along with the fact that the entire word of Oliver’s little incident had gotten around school faster than the snitch being unhitched from the case. I hated Quidditch now. I couldn’t think about it. Everything was going too fast. This entire situation was so mind boggling I didn’t know where to begin.

“Hermione?” I asked, a lump forming in my throat. She walked out and I was absolutely speechless. She actually bought a pink dress, first off. Secondly, she looked stunning in it. It made the lump in my throat go down and I smiled with approval.

“Let’s get going,” I suggested.

“Emma,” she stopped me. She sat down next to me and took my arm. “You will be alright, right?”

“Of course,” I said. I didn’t know if I was lying or not. “I’m going to try at least.”

“Emma, listen to me,” she said. “If…well, things happen at Yule Balls. Things no one can explain. Nothing too bad. But it can damage a person’s heart sometimes. And I’m not just talking about their own.” I wasn't quite sure what she was getting at. “Fred is a good guy, Emma. Don’t forget that.”

“Oh, um…I won’t…” I said, not quite sure why she was telling me this. Still, I couldn’t argue with that. Fred was the best guy out there in my opinion. Then again, how could he not be? He was my best friend. I loved him so much…so much…

“Promise me, promise me, promise me, promise me,” she pressed. “That you will not doanything stupid tonight.” Her face was serious. Mine was confused, but I nodded.

“Good,” she said. She got up and flattened out her dress. “Let’s go.”

Oliver was waiting down in the Common Room. My stomach grew empty when I saw him. It felt like I had been shot in the heart but was still breathing. I should have been dead but I was alive.

“I’ll see you later tonight,” she said, when I was a few feet away from him. “I’m off to find Viktor. Remember, nothing stupid.” She glanced at Oliver when she said that. She left and Oliver met me half way.

“Hey,” he said. He kissed the back of my hand, the way a gentleman would. I sadly couldn’t say he was one, though. Not anymore. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks.” I didn’t mean it. I wanted to get this over with. The more he talked the bigger the hole inside grew.

“Really, you’re…just so beautiful,” he said. It almost sounded like it was rehearsed. It took all I had to keep from clutching my stomach at that point.

“Can we just go?” I asked. I could tell he’d rather be with “someone else” and everything he was saying was just an act. He nodded and put out his arm. I took it but only for looks. We walked to the Ball Room in silence. Complete silence. When we entered the room, everyone was staring at us.

“I’ll meet you later? On the dance floor?” he asked when some people from the Quidditch Team had called him over. His eyes looked promising.

“Sure,” I said. I really didn’t care. I knew he didn’t want to be here with me, but there was nothing I could really do about it now. He left and I stood alone for a minute. I scouted for Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, George, Fred, anybody I knew. Suddenly, I heard someone.

“Emma?” It was Roger Davies. We weren’t friends or anything -- more of acquaintances. He had had a secret crush on me since third year. Of course, it wasn’t so secret. But then again, it was since I was the only one that knew.

“Hey, Roger,” I said.

“You here with someone?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, the last person I want to be with,” I said sullenly. He put his hands together and rocked back on his heels.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” he said.

“Roger – ”

“He’s a jerk, Emma, why are you here with him?!” he looked almost hurt. Like he was hurt because he knew I deserved someone a lot better. Someone like him.

“Aren’t you here with someone?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “But…” I put my hand on his lips to shush him. I held his hand.

“I can’t answer that question for you,” I said. “I don’t know why I’m here with him. It isn’t right to be. I’m becoming more and more heartbroken every time he says something. But if I’m away from him it hurts more.”

“Does it hurt now?” he asked. I thought a minute. I didn’t feel a big hole...

“No,” I said. “Not right now.” I smiled at him to make the moment lighter. He smiled back.

“Just know that, I am sorry, and if you need anything…”

“Yeah, Roger, I know. Thank you,” I said. He nodded and left. I figured I'd be getting a lot of conversations like that with everyone. I saw Fred and Angelina enter from the opposite side of the room. They didn’t look like they wanted to get away from each other. Angelina was actually laughing at something Fred had said and clutching on his arm. I wanted that. I wanted to be laughing, not moping tonight. That’s what I had envisioned when I was thinking about the Yule Ball before. George and Katie were behind them, Katie talking like crazy and George obviously not listening. Fred finally spotted me and gave a soft smile. I waved and Angelina turned to my direction. She turned to Fred and smiled as she left his arm to go see some other girls from Gryffindor.

“Speak for yourself,” I said checking him out. I hadn’t meant to, honestly. It was just one of those things that happened. He looked really hot, I had to admit.

“Ha! Yeah? Well, I’d definitely tap that,” he said eyeing me up and down. He was joking, of course, but I played along anyway.

“I’d like to see you try, Weasley,” I said playfully. He bit his lip and raised his eyebrows, interested.

“I can arrange that,” he said, in a more seductive tone than normal. Holy cow was that hot...I mean, wait, what? I mean, in all honesty it really was sexy and definitely turned me on. But still...we're just friends.

Fred broke the seriousness with a stifled laugh and I returned the same. I liked being this close to him; I liked it more than I had ever realized. I wished so badly I had gone to the Yule Ball with him instead of good-cheapskate Oliver. Fred turned his head and waved to someone. When I turned to see who, my eyes met Angelina’s as she returned Fred’s wave. She gave a short grin toward me, if you’d even call it that, and turned away back to the girls she was with.

“She’s not ready to talk to me yet?” I guessed when he turned back to me.

“It was a little hard for her to talk to me at first,” he said. “Where’s Oliver by the way?” Ugh, Oliver. Why did he bring him up?

“Ugh, who knows,” I said in an annoyed tone. Fred could tell this irritated me and gave a look that wished he hadn’t brought it up.

“Well, you having fun?” I sighed.

“It could be better,” I admitted. He gave a sorry grin.

“Well, you will now,” he said.

“Oh? What makes you so sure?”

“Uh, I’m here?” he said like it was obvious. I hit him in the arm and he made a face at me. The thing was, things did get better everytime he was around.

“So, were you talking to Roger earlier?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “But everyone’s been staring at me. Everyone knows.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, if you want them gone…”

“Behave yourself,” I told him, smirking. He laughed and the first song came on.

(“The Great Escape” – Boys Like Girls)

“I love this song,” I said. He smirked and leaned in to me.

“Well, what good is loving a song if you’re not going to dance to it?” he said. I smiled at him. He was about to take my hand when Angelina showed up around his other arm.

“Come on, Fred, let’s dance,” she said. She glanced at me with an awkward expression on her face. I returned the expression. Fred shrugged at me and went away with Angelina on the dance floor. And there I stood alone. Again. I sat down on the floor next to the punch and suddenly found Draco next to me.

“Don’t you have a date to grind on the dance floor?” I asked him coldly.

“I’d like to try it on you, first,” he started. I gagged, letting him know to forget it, when he continued. “Look, I’m not one to do this, so don’t get used to it. But I am sorry about what happened. Oliver is a douchebag and, between you and me, I’ve always thought you were a lot better than he was. Like, you’re a pretty okay girl at times. But don’t tell anyone that. Anyway, Oliver can suck it for all I care. I’ve made my mistakes, but he sure as fuck didn’t have any right to do that to you. Anyone else, I wouldn’t care so much. But you didn’t deserve that at all.”

“We never had this conversation,” he enforced. I nodded and left then, not knowing where exactly I was headed. I glanced over at the dance floor a few times. I couldn’t help but keep staring at Fred. I hated how that wasn’t me on the dance floor with him. Oh, gosh, was I jealous?! I couldn’t be. He was my best friend! But…

‘Ugh, I wish I could rip her arms off right now!’ I thought. I couldn’t stand that she was throwing herself all over him. It made me sick. She was literally on top of him, her arms touching his torso, his hands caressing her hips. I didn’t want to look, but I couldn’t stop. Finally, the song ended and a slow song came on.

(“Boston” – Augustana)

I watched Angelina pull her arms around Fred. They looked like they were having fun, at least that’s what it looked like. I stood in the same spot for a few moments, wishing I was the one with my arms around Fred. Ugh, what was wrong with me?! This is my best friend and I'm talking about him like he’s a freaking crush! …And then it hit me…did I…oh, gosh, no… I couldn’t possibly –

“Hey,” Oliver said behind me. I turned around and he put out his arm. “May I have this dance?” I took his arm and he guided me to the middle of the dance floor. It wasn’t like the first time we danced. But that was obvious, wasn’t it? I put my arms around him and his arms were around my waist. I danced without saying a single word. I knew how ridiculous it was, to be giving him the silent treatment. But then again, did he not deserve it? I noticed that Fred and Angelina were dancing about a few feet away from us.

‘Boy, this can’t get any more awkward, can it?’ I wondered.

I noticed that about halfway through the song, Oliver was looking at Angelina a lot. He was pretty much trying to take in as much of her without having me notice. But I did. And this bothered me like crazy. I don’t know why it bothered me – probably because just the other evening he had told me he loved me and was kissing me like I was the only love of his life. Apparently, that wasn’t true. I glanced once at them and when I did, I met Fred’s eyes. I wanted to be in his arms. And I could tell he wanted to be in mine too, his expression gave that away. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I couldn’t help it. I should be dancing with him right now. And Oliver should be dancing with Ange. It was obvious. He couldn’t stop looking at her!

I noticed after awhile that as much as I hated Oliver looking at Angelina, I couldn’t help but keep looking at Fred. It was pathetic really. Oliver and I, desperately wanting to be with the other person yet here we were with each other. I couldn’t help but notice that Fred and Angelina were getting awfully close and awfully comfortable with each other. I was surprised by how hurt I was by this and how worried I actually was. Their heads were touching, almost like when Fred and I were alone in Oliver’s room the day of my birthday, right before we…

And that’s when it happened.

There, only a few feet away from me, was Fred kissing Angelina.

I felt like a million bullets just hit my heart. I wanted to cry but the tears were just stuck and a fog fell upon my vision. I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t watch, couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything. I, finally, couldn’t take it anymore.

“Screw this,” I said harshly. And with that I ran off as fast as I could. I didn’t care where. I just needed to get out.

“Emma?” I heard Fred following me. He was close too. I didn’t want to see him. I couldn’t. I found myself trying desperately to get away from him, get away from everything, so I quickly made a sharp left outside the Great Hall entrance and ran into a small study room. I went in behind the doorframe where the room was low lit by a very small amount of candles. He was right behind me when I spun around, my hands close to my face.

“I can’t do this, I can’t do this – ”

“Shh, shh, shh, Emma, hey, listen to me,” he whispered trying to calm me down. He held my arms and looked in my eyes. “You’re going to be ok. You’re going to get past this, ok? Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Ha, no, no. Nooo way. See, Fred, you don’t even know anything, so don’t act like you fucking do!” I screamed, tears falling down my face. He was taken aback by the use of language and how upset I was. “What the fuck was that back there with Angelina??”

I didn’t care if that was obvious or not. I was tired of fighting it. When he kissed Angelina it freaking hurt. Hurt like a freaking monster. Why hide it? What was the point? He stammered, not knowing what to say for awhile.

“I…Emma, I don’t effin’ know, okay?” he began.

“Well, do you like her or something??” I said, wiping tears from I cheek. “'Cause it'd be better to just tell me now if you do!!"

“What? No. No, I don’t like her. Are you kidding me?”

“Then why would you kiss her?! I don’t get it, Fred. I don’t freaking get it.” There was a pause before he went on.

“Emma, she came onto me, number one. Secondly, I didn’t enjoy it.” That was news. It looked like he did.

“That’s not what it looked like,” I continued, still frustrated, confused and hurt.

“Well, I can tell you one thing,” he said, wiping the tears from my face. He kept his palm on the left side of my cheek, his face close to mine. “I felt like bloody hell when I saw you run off.” I calmed down and knew he was telling the truth.

“Why are you so upset over it anyway?” he asked.

“…That’s the thing…” I started. “…I don’t even know.” I did know, I finally knew. I liked Fred. Big time. Why else would that have upset me?

“It’s just…” I could feel the tears start up again. “I…” A tear slid down my cheek. Fred caught it with his thumb and kept his hand on my cheek.

“I know,” he said, moving his other hand against my cheek. “…I’m sorry.” I knew in his eyes that he was. He would be here for me. Always. My best friend. I went to wipe a tear that had escaped, and ended up touching Fred’s hand. I kept it there and held it. My heart began pounding again and he moved in close to me.

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?” he whispered. I gazed into his eyes and put my right hand along his neck. My whole insides were bursting from the compliment alone.

“No,” I said. I was so close to touching his lips now. I could almost taste them.

“God, I’m a bigger idiot than I thought,” he said, closing the space between us. Our lips touched and I was immediately amazed at how amazing it was. It was 200% the best kiss I had ever had. I slid my right hand up his chest and around his neck, which brought us closer. His right hand cradled my jaw while the other made its way to my waist. We were starting to get a little more passionate with it and I finally got a hold of myself.

“No…” he begged in my ear when I let go.

“We…” I started. “We should get back. Don’t want people getting the wrong impression or anything.” He looked in my eyes and I became lost.

“What if it’s the right impression?” he questioned. And then I knew. It was the right impression. It had always been the right impression but I was pushing it away. I met him with another kiss, this one even better than the first. The hole I felt earlier was gone, for now I knew. The entire time I was with Oliver, the entire time I had known him, I had been in love with Fred Weasley.

I got up the next morning, tired and sleep deprived. I couldn’t remember at all what had happened last night, other than the kiss Fred and I had shared. How could I forget? It was so passionate and real and so…well...it was just beautiful.

“So,” Hermione said sitting down on my bed. “You had a big night last night.”

“You know?” I asked. She nodded. I wondered how long she had been waiting for me to wake up. “What time is it?”

“Almost 8, we’ll be going to breakfast in a few minutes,” she started. “But first, I want to know every detail.” I had never seen Hermione like this before.

“Hermione, I honestly don’t remember,” I said.

“What do you mean you don’t remember? It was the talk of the night!” she informed me.

“It was?!” I asked shocked. How many people knew that Fred and I had locked lips?

“George walked in on you, remember?” she said. I didn’t remember. All I remembered was the kiss. “Oliver sure was pissed though, but like that wasn’t expected.”

Oliver, pissed? Get out. Why the heck would Oliver care whether Fred and I had snogged or not? It’s not like he cared before. All he cared about was his precious Angelina. If anything, he should be pissed Fred kissed her. Why would he care about me?

“Look, Hermione, all I remember was when I last kissed Fred,” I admitted.

“Well, then, how was it?” her eyes were full of interest. I couldn’t describe it. Even if I tried, it wouldn’t have summed it up. It was ultimately the best kiss of my life...how could I put that into words?

“Hermione,” I started. “Can I ask you something?” She looked at me confused.

“Sure,” she said. I took a deep breath and looked for the right words.

“Are…did Fred and I…are we dating?” I asked. Her eyes got wide with shock that I didn’t know the answer to that.

“Well,” she began. “I honestly don’t know. You acted like you were. God, you acted like you were. I had to kick him out of our dorm WAY past curfew before he finally left. God knows what you two were doing before then.” This made me nervous. What if Fred and I had shagged? Why couldn’t I remember this? Was I drunk or something last night? Malfoy probably spiked the punch or something like it.

“Bahhhh,” I said annoyed. I threw my head on my pillow as I tried hard to remember everything Hermione was telling me.

“Do you want to date Fred?” she finally asked. I thought a minute, though I really didn’t need to. I knew that you did, but…how could I not have remembered this? Just then two boys barged in.

“Morning, Hermione. Morning, Emma,” Fred said, walking over.

“Morning,” we both said in unison. Fred leaned down and kissed the top of my head.

“Are we ready to go yet?” George asked.

“Almost,” Hermione replied. “Emma just got up a few minutes ago.”

“You two go down then,” Fred said. “We’ll catch up with you later.” He smirked at me when he said that.

“Just, please, for our sake...nothing too detailed,” George said leaving. Fred rolled his eyes and Hermione got up and exited with George, closing the door behind them. When the door was closed, it got real awkward really fast between the two of us. Well, not REAL awkward. But there was a brief silence for a moment.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” he answered, a suggestive grin across his face. “Sleep well?”

“A bit,” I answered. I didn’t want to bring up that I had absolutely no idea where the two of us stood right now. Or that I had practically forgotten everything that happened. He laid down next to me on his side and kissed me on the mouth. He tried to break away at one point but I wouldn’t let him, framing his face with my hand and kissing him more passionately. I could tell he really enjoyed that. I was pretty sure he enjoyed anything semi-sexual with me. Then again, so did Oliver.

“Mmm, that was nice,” he said when I finally broke away. I laughed and ran my hands down to his chest, playing with his shirt.

“I could do that all day with you and it’d never get old,” I said. He smiled and I returned the favor.

“I could name a few other things you could do with me that wouldn’t get old,” he said with a smirk.

“Oh, please Fred, can’t your horny self be serious for once?” I asked as he laughed.

“Now, see, if I did that, where would the fun in everything be?”

“Maybe we could actually have some fun if you could be a little sweet and romantic every once in a while,” I suggested. His eyes got wide and his smile broadened.

“Really? We could?”

“No, probably not,” I answered. I laughed when the disappointed look across his face appeared. I kissed him sweetly on the lips and told him not to be such a sucker.

“You know, that really isn’t fair,” he said.

“Eh, you can get me back later then,” I replied with a wink. He smiled as he looked into my eyes.

“Oh, I plan to,” he said with a grin. Goodness, I was smitten. I honestly could spend my whole life just lying next to him in this very moment and do nothing else. He started playing with my hands ever so gently. I was pretty sure he had the softest hands in the world after that.

“So, uh…seriously,” he started. “I couldn’t stop thinking of you…. Last night was the happiest night of my life, hands down.” I looked at him and buried my face in his neck, smiling.

“You’re cute,” I said flirtatiously. He smiled and kissed me on the lips. As much as I hated to, I finally broke away.

“I better get dressed and all that if we wanna go down soon,” I said, rolling out of bed.

“Aww c’mon, baby,” he said sitting up on the side of the bed. Baby? That was a clue toward the status on our relationship. He took my hand and pulled me back. “Can’t we just stay here?” I giggled at him as he pulled me into him. I was wearing a light blue and white pinstriped button up shirt…and that was pretty much it. I straddled him and happily kissed him as I put my arms around his neck. His hands made their way around my waist while we kissed until I, regretfully, broke away.

“Fred, you know if we don’t go, they’re going to become suspicious,” I said, getting off him.

“Let them!” he said. “We’ve got nothing to hide!” I laughed as I put on my jeans.

“…Damn,” Fred said, watching.

“Haha! What?” I asked, amused.

“Oh nothing,” he said, casually.

“Pff, are you staring at me or something?” I asked, jokingly.

“Maybe,” he teased. “I’m only staring at the most beautiful girl in the world,” he said. I rolled my eyes as I zipped up my fly.

“Don’t lie,” I argued. He raised an eyebrow at me and then rolled his eyes. I smirked and turned around where he couldn’t see the front of me. I unbuttoned my shirt and slid it off, deciding I'd have some more fun again. I turned my chin so it was resting on my shoulder and looked at his reaction. It was like testosterone had spilled from all parts of him.

“You’re right I did lie…I’m watching the sexiest girl in the world undress,” he clarified. That really turned me on. He got up and came over to me. I didn’t even bother putting a bra on because my hair covered everything. He immediately grabbed my face and kissed me. I rubbed my hands on his shirt and he moved his hands all over my back, touching every inch of my skin. I was so tight up against him now as I continued to make out with him. After a while, Fred lifted me up and I straddled his waist, locking my legs behind him. I slowly unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his bare chest. He walked backwards and eventually fell onto the bed. We made out for a long time before he finally moved his hands to the front of me. We were skin on skin now and before I knew it, I was the one on my back now. Fred moved his lips to the side of my neck and began sucking on me. I began to move my body up and down to his and he eventually moved his lips down to my chest. I had never felt like this, especially with Fred, before and so I was a little scared of what to do. I didn’t even know Fred was capable of acting this way. But we had only been dating a day, if we were dating at all, and so as much as I hated to, I eventually told him we had to stop. When I finally cooled down, you put on the first T-shirt I could find and Fred kissed me one more time passionately.

“Holy shit, you’re amazing…” he said breaking away from the kiss. I smiled and kissed him quickly on the lips before we went downstairs on Fred’s back. It was obvious. We were definitely dating.

* * * * *

It was my first practice back since Oliver and Angelina had shagged in Katie’s dorm. It was almost weird coming back, but it felt good at the same time. This was home for me. And I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now.

“You all set, babe?” Fred asked putting his arm around me.

“Pff, you know I’m going to scorch you today, Weasley,” I said playfully.

“Weasley? We start going out and that’s all I get? Psh, thanks,” he said.

“Oh, would you like me to call you Sugarlumps and Pumpkin instead, Honeybee?” I replied mockingly. Fred raised his eyebrows and dropped them as if he was creeped out. I laughed and kissed him on the cheek. I was so happy. Nothing could go wrong.

* * * * *

Everyone was absolutely drenched in sweat. It was a scorching day outside and I had worked my butt off at practice. Thank goodness it was over.

“Emma!” Fred called coming over to me.

“What’s up?” I said once he got to me. Gosh, he looked so hot when he was sweaty.

“Sure,” I said. He kissed me goodbye and then left. I watched him walk away, smitten as ever. Ugh…was…was I…oh my goodness, I couldn’t be, could I? Was I in –

“Hey, Emma,” a voice came that broke my thoughts. This wasn’t just any voice though. I knew that voice…that Scottish accent.... I hesitated turning around slowly.

“Hi, Oliver,” I said, swallowing a lump in my throat. It was the first time we talked since the Yule Ball. It was actually quite awkward.

“Um, yeah. …You…uh,...you did really good on the field today,” he said shyly. This was not like him at all. Why was he being so shy?

“Oh…thanks,” I said going to leave. Before I could though, he stopped me.

“Emma, I’m not finished yet.” I waited for him to start again.

“Ok…look, let me just come out with it. I miss you,” he said. What? I must have heard him wrong. He missed me?!! Ha! Yeah right.

“I…I know that’s kind of weird to hear…but it’s the truth. You see…” he cradled his hand along my face. I couldn't help but be a little skeptical. “I really care about you.” He leaned in to kiss me, but I jerked away.

“Um, yeah, sorry, what?! Are you kidding me, Oliver?” I said backing away.

“Emma, I need you. I – ”

“Ha! You need me?! Oliver, are you drunk? Are you high? What is the matter with you?” There was a pause as he hesitated. He came closer to me, but before I could notice.

“Everything…without you,” his lips then pressed against mine and his hand held my face there. I wanted to let go. I tried. But as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. His grip was too strong on me. I broke away a couple times but he just brought me back, his grip even harder on me every time. I was so scared. It reminded me of that time Malfoy had cornered me up against the wall…the time Oliver “saved me.” And now…he was doing the same to me.

I finally broke it off…but not soon enough. Because as soon as I did, standing behind Oliver only a few feet away…was a red-haired twin…staring at both of us.

“George!” I said leaving Oliver. He wouldn’t speak to me. He just turned and left, walking faster than I had ever seen him. “George!”

“Emma, what the bloody hell was that?!” he asked. He was definitely upset. That was obvious.

“It was nothing,” I said honestly.

“Yeah, ok, I’ll believe that,” he said sarcastically. He began to walk away again. I let him go, until he turned around again to say something.

“You know, Emma, this just boggles my mind really. I mean, out of all the people in Hogwarts, I thought you would be the least bit low to do something like this.”

“George, it’s not what you think.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s what a lot of people thought about you, Emma,” he said turning from me. He then stopped and turned to me once more.

“And what kills me even more is that it hasn’t even been a full 24 hours. You used Fred, Emma, how do you expect him to be okay with this?! You used him as the rebound! If you still were in love with Oliver you should have said something instead…instead of THIS!” he finished kicking the dirt. I was going to cry. It hurt so bad inside. I couldn’t bare it.

He turned to leave again. I grabbed his arm but he broke from it. I then noticed Fred coming down the hill toward both of us. I felt my heart stop. George was going to tell him. I knew it. I had to get to Fred before he did. I had to.

“Fred!” I called racing for him. He smiled when he saw me. God, stupid Oliver! I would murder him in his sleep tonight. I saw George start walking faster to him. I increased my pace as well. George started to jog a bit. It was like this competition. A race. We finally were both running with all our might to him. He stopped and walked back a bit, a bit weirded out by the two of us running at him.

“Fred!” George said out of breath when he got to him. “Fred - ”

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he said looking at me and ignoring George. I was dead frozen. There were about twenty lumps in my throat and my stomach was going in a hundred million directions. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t let him know...but I couldn't let George tell him either.

“Baby?” he said coming closer to me.

“No, Fred!” George said cutting him off from me. “She needs to tell you something.” George glared at me, letting me know that if I didn’t tell him he would.

“…Emma?” Fred asked, a confused look on his face. I opened my mouth but there was silence. I couldn’t tell him. I knew I had to – but I couldn’t.

“I - …Oliver – …”

“Oliver what?” he said turning to George. He now looked really worried. And like he was ready to kick some ass. I expected George to come right out and say it, to rat me out like the rat he was. Instead, he just stood there and looked down. He couldn’t say it either.

“OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING – ”

“He kissed me, Fred!” I broke him off. Fred’s eyes froze on mine as the light from them left.

“…What?” he asked, dumbfounded. I couldn’t look at him. I would start crying if I did.

“…We kissed…” I told him, looking at the ground. I managed to look up at him. He was pissed. I saw his eyes get glossy. Mine did the same. I couldn’t look away from his eyes as badly as I wanted to. And I wanted to bad.

“…I’m sorry,” I said, the tears starting to fall. He shook his head at me and turned to leave, but I ran after him.

“What, was some spell put on you or something?! Or did you trip and your lips just happen to fall on his!!” Holy shit was he pissed. But was that really a surprise? I felt the same way when he kissed Angelina…and we weren’t even dating then…

“Fred, it wasn’t like that. Just, please, listen – ”

“What is there to listen to, Emma?!” he continued. “You made out with your fucking ex and now expect me to just LISTEN to your excuses?!”

“Fred – ”

“Shut up, Emma!” he screamed, closing his eyes. The sting of his words cut deep and, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t find the words to say to him. He opened his eyes and they met mine, but it wasn’t a moment like usual. No, there was no redemption in his eyes; no forgiveness or sympathy. His eyes got glossy as his anger grew and I knew I had hurt him. Hell, how couldn’t I have? I was hurt myself.

He stared at me for another moment, the look he gave burning into my memory.

“I’m done with you, Emma,” he said before looking away. He shook his beautiful red hair as he looked upward at the sky. “I’m done.”

He looked at me one last time before he turned around and left. I would always remember the look he gave me. It was a sad, hurt look. I wanted to beg him to stay, beg him to listen, to tell him the truth…but I couldn’t. Not anymore. That chance was gone. He would never listen. AND WHY WOULD HE?! Why would he listen to me after what I just did to him?! There was no second chance, and I knew there never would be.

I hated myself at that very moment and knew I could never forgive myself. He would never forgive me. And that made me hate myself even more. Because it wasn’t just that I had lost the love of my life…I had lost my best friend.

“Hermione, I’m not talking to her! I don’t want to ever see her again! She’s – ”

“You are so stubborn, Fred Weasley! She hasn’t come out of that room in four days! She’s cried herself to sleep every night and she won’t eat!! You need to go in and talk to her, Fred!”

“She doesn’t want to see me – ”

“You don’t know that!”

“You don’t know that she does!”

“Yes I do!”

“She’s probably sleeping!”

“FRED WEASLEY!!”

At that moment the door opened and slammed shut. I heard someone stumble their way around. I quietly heard a “God” from the other side of me. I turned over and shakily opened my eyes the rest of the way. There stood Fred. My heart fell to a million pieces. I hadn’t seen him in what felt like so long. I had forgotten what he looked like, even though I had dreamed about him every night since…well…

“…Hey…” I said.

“Hi. Um, good morning.” I could tell he felt awkward. Uncomfortable. He stood there for a minute, which I appreciated. I didn’t want him to come over to me. I probably smelled. And I looked absolutely atrocious. Besides, all I wanted to do was look at him.

“Why are you in here?” I asked.

“Oh, um…well, you see…uh…” he didn’t know how to say it. He walked a bit closer to my bed. “Can…can I…um…sit?” I nodded. I really didn’t want him to, but the closer he was to me, the more beautiful he looked. I curled my knees up and hugged them to make room. He practically sat right on them. Wow, he smelled amazing.

“…How are you?” I asked.

“Uh…I’m…I’m good…” he said. That made me sad. I wanted him to feel as miserable as I did. He probably had started dating Angelina or some other girl. No; word had probably gotten around about Oliver. Angelina would have broken up with him. He definitely was dating her now…or at least talking to her.

“And you?” he asked. I looked at him as if to ask ‘is that a serious question?’ “Uh…oh…yeah, I guess, you, uh…”

‘Just shut up,’ I wanted to say. I wanted him out now. I didn’t want to see him anymore.

“Okay, uh, look…” he started. “I’m not good. I’m miserable. Right after you told me about…what happened…I…God, this is gonna make me look so stupid…” There was a pause before he continued.

“Fred, you don’t have to tell me anything,” I assured him.

“No, Emma, I do,” he said cutting me off. “You need to know. You should know.” I could tell he was torn still, but he continued anyway.

“When you told me that Oliver had kissed you,” he started. “I, um…I went back to my dorm…and I cried. I cried like an effin baby…” …What?

‘He cried over me?!’ I thought.

“God, you probably think I’m so stupid now – ”

“No,” I said touching his hand. I hadn’t really meant to. It just happened. This was a surprise to both of us. We both stared at each other’s hands there, just lying on top of the other.

He looked up at me and our eyes were locked to each other’s. I really, really missed him now. I wanted to cry because I knew that he would leave and I would continue to lye here another four days heartbroken, sick and hungry. Yeah, great idea, Hermione. Re-break my heart. He looked back down at my hands and his fingers started playing around mine so his was on top. He held it there.

“I mean, it’s not like you cried for four days or anything like me…” I fake laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah…only two…” he confessed. My heart swelled up.

‘He cried over me for 2 days?!!’ I thought.

“…Heh…um, wow…I…I forgot how soft your hands were…” he commented. He looked back at my eyes while he played with my fingers.

“Do…do you want to know why I cried?” he asked. There was a pause for a moment.

“Why?” I asked then. I really was curious. He laughed briefly.

“God, I’ll sound so stupid,” he said.

“Tell me, Fred…” I wanted to know so badly. It was tearing me apart. He looked in my eyes. He stopped playing with my fingers. I put my hand on top of his. He looked back down again at our hands holding each other’s. He put his hand on mine again and moved in slowly toward me. I was confused at first at what he was doing. When he kissed me, I didn’t care. I missed his lips and, for now at least, they were mine again. He kissed my lips softly and slowly pulled away. He paused, however, it wasn’t long until his lips melted back onto mine again, this time more aggressive and passionate. He put his hand along the upper part of your neck and brought me in closer as I kissed him back. He moved his other hand off of mine and put it on the other side of my neck while I pulled on his shirt, which made him get so close to me. He laid me down on my back and he got on top of me. I put my hands slowly up his shirt. He put his up mine too, slowly taking off my shirt as his tongue tangled with mine. I turned him over and started unbuttoning his shirt, kissing him more and more vigorously. He started to take my shorts off and I undid his pants. I wanted to fuck so bad. I wanted to with Fred and only Fred. I loved him. I knew I did. I was pulling his pants slowly down from his waist, when he stopped me.

“So…does this mean we’re back together?” he asked, with a smirk on his face.

“…I…I don’t want to just do this just because we’re dating though…” I said. I laid down next to him, the love of my life. I just laid there for a few minutes, playing with each other’s fingers and Fred traced his nose along my neck and hair, which I figured smelled like absolute shit at the moment.

“Do you still want to know why I cried?” he asked after awhile.

“Why?” I questioned.

“Because…” he looked at my eyes and we were lost in each other's. “I love you, Emma...”

‘WHAT?!’ my heart stopped beating.

“I really do. I mean, shit, this is gonna sound so corny but, seriously…I can’t live without you, Emma. You are my best friend and you are everything I want and everything I need and so beautiful and the hottest prankster I know,” we shared a laugh there. “I am just so, completely in love with you…I don’t want anyone else.”

“You’re lying,” I said, smiling. He turned over to his side and caressed my face.

“I would never lie to you…” he said softly. He kissed me softly on the lips. I couldn’t breathe. Fred Weasley was in love with me?!! I couldn’t believe it. He broke away from me and he bit his lip like he’d done something wrong.

“Fred, I love you too,” I assured him. “I always have.” He smiled the biggest smile any person could get. We started kissing again and he got on top of me. I was in a complete madness of love with him. I was so in love. And what I loved more was that he was so much more in love with me.

I hated Snape. And even more his class. Then again, who didn’t? Still, I felt like shooting something. Maybe I'd shoot myself. Nah…Snape was the problem, not me. I was continuing to think about who to shoot, myself or Snape, when a note was passed to me.

On a Scale of 1-10, how bad do you wish we had thought up something today?!!

I was almost mad now that we hadn’t. I looked over at my red-headed friend…or I guess he was per se, my boyfriend now. I smiled as I thought about it. Boyfriend. Fred Weasley is my boyfriend. Mine. Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. Boyfriend. Hehe.

‘Alright,’ I thought. ‘Never do that again.’ I circled the number 10 and threw the note back to him. It wasn't long until it returned.

I was an 11 on that one. Anyway…more serious question…on a scale of 1-10…how horny were you back there? ;)

I had to hold back my laughter. Typical guy. I kept catching him looking at me. He winked a few times which made me blush. Ugh, he was so freaking cute. I really shouldn’t have class with him. He was so distracting. Then again, it’s not like I'd be paying attention anyway. Might as well have something worthwhile to distract me.

Oh, Fred, you brute. Is that all you care about?

I smirked at him when I threw it back. Holy snap, did he make my head spin. I could tell Snape was looking at me. I turned around and pretended to pay attention. I knew it was only a matter of time though until he shot over here swiping away our note. Oh, God, I hoped that wouldn’t happen.

Something went down my shirt. When I looked, there it was. I looked up at Fred and he smirked at me. I rolled my eyes as I removed the note from my cleavage.

No, I actually care about you a lot more than that. That’s just a bonus.

Well, then if you really MUST know...pretty horny. But DON'T let it go to your head or get used to it. It's not going to happen again...at least that easily. ;)

HA! ...We’ll see about that, my dear...

I stuck my tongue out at him. At least, what I thought was him.

“Ms. Blakely, I don’t think now is the time for measuring how long your tongue is nornote passing – especially during my class,” Snape said snatching away our note.

‘Shit,’ I thought. ‘Are you kidding me?’ Fred gave me a very wide-eyed glance as Snape read our note to himself. I was dead. I knew it. And there was nothing else I could do about it.

“100 points off of Gryffindor,” he replied as Gryffindors in the room moaned. “And I’ll see youand Mr. Weasley,” he emphasized, “in detention.”

I sulked as he walked away and continued class.

What a gay ass.

* * * * *

I really hated Snape for this. Really, really hated him. He was making us clean the inside of every last one of his potions bottles and if they weren’t cleaned up to his expectations, we'd have to start all over. Detention sucked with Snape. It wouldn’t be so bad if Fred and I were left to be alone, but after the note Snape found yesterday morning that was NOT going to happen at all – and Snape would make sure of it.

“Excuse me,” he started in his slow, drone of a voice. Fred and I stopped cleaning and waited for his response. “I’m afraid I have to go see Professor McGonagall for a rather important assembly. You will remain here until I return. If you leave, I WILL find out and you WILL suffer the consequences.”

When Snape left, Fred and I were alone in Snape’s potions closet. It was a tiny little closet. Well, it was extremely narrow and it was nearly impossible for us to stay in the same spot once without bumping into each other. He was up on a ladder polishing a potions glass while I stayed on the ground blowing the dust out of another.

“Ha! And then we’d get detention again and end up doing worse,” I reminded him.

“You don’t know that!” Fred argued.

“Oh, I do. And you know it too!” I said, laughing.

“Mneahh,” he said, sticking his tongue out. I stuck mine back out at him.

“Watch it,” he warned. “I might grab that thing right out of your mouth.”

“Well, I hope you grab it with your tongue then,” I said, smirking seductively. He smirked back and laughed softly.

“You would like that,” he said going back to polishing glasses.

“I might,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. I looked up to see his reaction and he just shook his head and laughed. I loved the way his hair moved when he shook it. I was seriously so in love with him. How could I not have realized this sooner? So many things could have been avoided – changed – if I had. Oliver, Angelina…ugh, I still couldn’t get over the fact that we had gone to the Yule Ball with those sluts despite everything that happened. And then that reminded me.

“So uh, I’ve sorta been wondering for awhile…why did you ask Angelina to the Yule Ball?” I asked. He laughed and cocked his head back.

“Oh God,” he expressed. “Well, she wasn’t my first choice, let me start with that.” He looked down at me and winked when he said it. I smiled but I felt a little guilty inside at the same time. Yep. Oliver clearly ruined everything. Well, not everything. Fate has a funny way of meeting you where you are no matter what path you take. Which is what happened with Fred and I, I figured.

“So then why’d you ask her?” I went on. I was really curious. Why Angelina? Did he think she was pretty? Did he think he had a chance with her since he didn’t have one with me? Gosh, that would crush my heart. He paused before continuing and the room suddenly got a very serious feel.

“I asked her…” he said. “to make you jealous.” He smirked and I rolled my eyes.

“Oh really?” I said, laughing. “Well, I hate to tell you this but it didn’t work.” Lie.

“Oh, it didn’t now?” he asked, a smirk still on his face. “I beg to differ.” He got off the ladder and dropped down to my level.

“You can beg all you want,” I said. “But you know no one beats me – ”

“In an argument? I know,” he went on. He got close to me, put his hand against my face and softly kissed my lips. “However,” he continued, briefly kissing my lips again. “I don’t think this looks like an argument, does it?” He kissed my lips with a little more aggression than before, placing his other hand under my chin.

“Looks…can be deceiving,” I said, breaking away from his kiss. “Besides, I’m telling you. I wasn’t jealous.” He smirked and rolled his eyes.

“Really,” he said. He kissed my lips again before continuing. “Then explain how you couldn’t take your eyes off me all night?”

“I – ” I started, but he kissed me again before I could answer.

“And…” he continued, now moving his lips along my jawline and onto my neck, “how your face…drastically changed its expression…whenever Angelina…was on my arm.” Bringing all this up was actually beginning to make me jealous, but at the same time, I was completely hung over in his seduction and oh, so turned on. He pressed my body up against his and slid his hands around my waist as he whispered in my ear in between kissing me.

“And…when you left…Oliver on the dance floor…after seeing me…kiss Angelina…” I quickly pushed Fred off me. Oh, he did not just bring that up.

“Seriously?” I said, tense. That pissed me off. “You’re really going to bring that up?” He looked at me, a smirk on his face, but I was serious.

“So you were jealous?” he asked, almost arrogantly.

“Oh, shut up,” I said, sternly. I turned around and was going to go back to polishing potion glasses when Fred spun me around.

“Baby, hold on,” he said. I tried to break free of him so he’d get off me, but he ended up holding my arms down and winning.

“Why would you kiss her?!” I upsettingly said. “She’s a freaking slut, Fred. A SLUT!!”

“Baby, baby, calm down,” he said, taking my shoulders. “Baby, look at me, look at me.” I didn’t want to but he half forced me by following my eyes when I'd turn away.

“Baby,” he started. I looked in his eyes and saw he honestly was sorry. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I was playing around and I guess it went too far. But baby,” he stopped for a moment, gazing deeply into my eyes, “I am so in love with you. I always have been.”

“Then why would you kiss Angelina when I was standing two feet away from you?!” I went on. He shook his head.

“I already told you, she kissed me, babe.” Oh, like I hadn’t heard that before. ‘I didn’t kiss him, he kissed me.’ Yeah. Sure. “I know. It sounds like an excuse. But she literally pulled my head in and kissed me. It was seriously two seconds, then I broke away and asked her what the hell she was doing. That’s when I saw you run off.” He was getting hurt just thinking back to it.

“And baby…” he continued. “…I felt like the biggest idiot in the whole world. I seriously thought I had lost you for good.” I looked in his eyes and they were sad. I saw the fear he had felt when he saw me run off at the Yule Ball and immediately regretted getting so upset over it.

“Baby,” I said, touching his face. “You never lost me. You never will. I’m always going to be yours.” I realized right then how strong of words those were, but I meant it. I realized right then I wanted to be with Fred. Forever.

He smiled wide at my response. “Thank God,” he said. He kissed my lips and put his hands along my face. I gripped his shirt and pulled him in deeper. Our hands were all over each other until his finally made it around my waist. He picked me up and I straddled him as our mouths played with each other, not even stopping to take a breath. He pinned me up against the shelves of the potion bottles and, as a result, some bottles fell to the floor and crashed. Neither of us cared. I ripped his shirt buttons off, baring his chest as he eagerly slid his hands up my shirt. I threw the rest of his shirt off and I quickly began unbuttoning his pants. I wanted to go nuts with Fred so badly I couldn’t even stand it. He took off my shirt as quickly as you could say “Honeydukes” and grabbed my chest, burying his face into my neck. He kissed me all over, sucking on my neck and chest whenever possible, causing me to whimper in pleasure to it. He put me down and started to unbutton my pants.

“Emma,” he said breaking away for a minute. I didn’t want him to stop so I moved my lips to his neck and bit him softly yet aggressively, sucking occasionally, which he reacted with, “Oh God! Damn, I love when you do that! Aw fuck me, Emma. Baby, fuck me hard! Oh God, oh God – ”

“Touch me,” I said, grabbing his hands and placing them on my chest. He kissed me as he felt me up, and I threw my arms around his neck as our kiss grew even more intense. He finally broke away, though.

“Babe,” he said. “So...you were jealous?” I kissed him, thinking to myself what a stupid question that was.

“Damn right I was,” I said aggressively. “Now show me how bad you want me.” We viciously kissed each other as he picked me back up, my legs straddling him. Snape never came back. And we stayed in the closet an hour longer than we were scheduled for. It was our first time and I prayed it wouldn’t be our last. One thing’s for sure. I never looked at that closet the same way again.

“You did WHAT?!” Hermione screamed. I tried to hold back my laughter, but failed. This was a pretty serious moment after all. I had just told Hermione about my “incident” during detention. Her reaction was just priceless.

“Emma, are you kidding me?! I don’t even know what to say right now,” she started. I hadn’t thought about the fact that maybe Hermione wasn’t the type of person to want to discuss this kind of thing.

“You don’t have to say anything,” I said. “I just needed to tell someone and well, you’re one of my only girl friends so I felt you should know.”

“Oh my God,” she went on. She looked disturbed. Disturbed and shocked. I understood though. Fred and I hadn’t been "officially" dating for very long. In fact, I had always seen myself doing this thing way into a serious relationship. But I didn’t regret what happened between Fred and I. I knew I was in love. And I knew, as cliché as it sounded, we were meant to be together. If there was anyone I would have wanted to lose my virginity to, I would have wanted it to be him anyway. He was my best friend. I'd known him longest out of anyone and I trusted him with everything I had.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized to Hermione. “I shouldn’t have told you, I guess. I know it’s probably uncomfortable for you.”

“No, no. It’s okay,” she reassured. “It’s just…this isn’t going to be a frequent thing is it?” I thought a minute.

“I honestly have no idea,” I said casually. As if it were a casual subject. “I mean, it’s not like we have a schedule or anything.”

“It’s just that I don’t want to hear about every time you do, okay?” she said.

“Excited, huh? That’s quite a word choice,” she said. We both laughed and there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” I called. In walked three red-headed Weasley brothers.

“Good, you’re up!” George said as he walked in.

“What’s going on?” Hermione asked, Ron sitting next to her. Fred sat next to me and put his arm around me, kissing my head. I saw Hermione cover her eyes which made me laugh on the inside.

“Nothing that really concerns you,” Ron said. Hermione gave him a stare that sent the message ‘Rude’ all over it. “I mean, it’s just…” he tried to cover it up.

“Mom wants you to come home for Christmas with us!” Fred blurted out. My eyes grew big as George and Fred high fived each other.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Emma,” George said, touching my shoulder. “We’ve known you our whole lives pretty much. And now that you and Fred are together, Mom felt it was more than appropriate that you spend the holidays with us!”

“That is…” Fred started. “If you want to.”

“Of course I do!” I said hugging him. “I’d love it.”

“Great!” George said, propping up from the bed. “I’ll tell Mom to expect you right away! C’mon, Ron. Let’s go.” Ron got up and followed George, taking Hermione by the hand with him.

“Wait, why am I – ” she started.

“Just c’mon!” he whispered loudly, looking in mine and Fred's direction. I was confused as Hermione closed the door, so I looked to Fred for answers.

“Fred, we gotta talk about something,” I said seriously. “I know we had a good time yesterday…a really, REALLY good time…but we can’t just be doing that all the time.” He looked like he understood and sat back so he wasn’t really touching me anymore.

“I mean, I love you. And when we did that it meant something special to me. It was the best way I could show I loved you in that moment and so I went for it and, ohmygosh, it was amazing. But if we do it all the time…I’m scared it’s going to lose that feeling. And it won’t mean anything anymore. It’ll just become normal. I don’t want that to happen, Fred.” I hoped he understood. I felt kind of bad now actually since I brought it up. But he shook his head and agreed.

“I know. I feel that way too,” he said. I smiled, a relief covering me. He leaned in and kissed me briefly before continuing. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too,” I said. He smiled and kissed me again. We kissed for awhile and then I placed my hand along his neck. Even though I had just told Fred I wanted to take things slow, I felt myself craving for more. He put his hand on my knee and his kiss grew more passionate. I put my arms around his neck and straddled his lap so I was sitting on him. His hands softly framed my waist as my fingers became tangled in his hair. Just then, the door opened.

“Oh, not on the bed, please not on the bed,” Hermione said, shielding her eyes. I laughed as she picked up a book that she had forgotten.

“Don’t be a pig, Fred!” she said, disgusted. “Ugh!” She left the room, making sure to close the door, as quickly as possible.

“If she only knew,” he said, going to kiss me again.

“Uh, I think she already knows,” I admitted before he could reach my lips. He stopped and moved his head back, a look of shock on his face.

“Wait…she knows?”

“Yeah,” I said. Fred dropped his head and sighed heavily.

“Awesome,” he said sarcastically.

“Why? Is that a problem?” I asked, sensing his annoyance with the news.

“It’s just Hermione,” he explained. “I don’t know why you would tell her.”

“It’s a girl thing, I guess,” I said. “Besides, I trust her not to tell anyone. She doesn’t like the subject anyway.” Fred nodded, still looking a bit disappointed though. I kissed him on the cheek and he smiled.

“You missed,” he said. He kissed me on the lips again for a moment but then broke away. “Mmm, Emma. I told George.” This stopped me.

“You told George?!” I was surprised. Granted, I could have guessed that maybe he would, considering George is his twin. But…George?!

“Babe, he’s my twin! And plus I wanted to rub it in his face that I got some before he did.”

“Yeah, but baby, George will tell everyone!” I said, concerned.

“Who’s he gonna tell?” Fred said, trying to reassure me.

“Okay, maybe he won’t tell everyone. But he’ll slip to the wrong person and then everyone will know.” Fred laughed and shook his head.

“You know, you worry too much,” he said.

“I just don’t want it getting spread around,” I confessed. Secretly, I just didn’t want to be dubbed as the Hogwarts Whore or something. Even though people like Pansy and Draco slept with multiple people all the time. That adjusted my perspective once I remembered that and I felt better then.

“It won’t,” Fred said. We realized we needed to go to practice so I got off of him and went down to the pitch.

Once practice started, I noticed that a lot of people were whispering and giving us dirty looks whenever I'd kiss Fred or he’d put his arm around me or something. I pretended like it didn’t bother me and acted like I didn’t know what they were talking about, but deep down, I did.

‘That George,’ I thought. ‘It’s only been probably a few hours of him knowing and already the team, at least, knows.’

“Emma!” Oliver called to me after practice was over. I walked back to him meeting him on the pitch. Fred walked past from behind him and tapped his butt.

“I’m keeping my eye on you, Wood,” he said giving him a heavy stare. Oliver raised one eyebrow, confused as he watched my boyfriend walk away.

“Well, he certainly keeps a short leash on you,” Oliver said when he was gone.

“Well, considering the last time you wanted to talk to me you kissed me, I’d think he has good reason to,” I said harshly. Oliver gave a stiff glare. I was annoyed by the fact that Oliver had called me over. I still wasn't on the best terms with him and, honestly, I didn’t really care if that ever changed. I wanted no business with Oliver except for on the pitch. So he’s lucky this is where he decided to talk to me. “What do you want with me, Wood?”

“Is what I hear true?” he asked abruptly. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked kinda pissed actually.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, needing clarification.

“Oh, like you don’t know,” he said. “You slept with Fred.”

“Yeah. I did. So what?” I said, casually. This only annoyed him all the more.

“Wha – so what?! What the fuck were you thinking?!” he said angrily.

“What do you mean what was I thinking?!” I asked. “He’s my boyfriend and I’m in love with him! Is that such a crime?!” His mouth dropped.

“You’re in love with him?!” he spewed out. Why the heck was he making this into such a big deal? “You can’t be in love with him, you haven’t even been dating that long! There’s no way you really love him. No effin’ way!!”

“Oh, what would you know about that, Oliver!” I said. “The only thing you’ve ever loved is Quidditch. You know nothing about love.”

“I know about it enough to know that you can’t fall in love with someone in two days,” he said.

“Well, for your information, Mr. Wood, I’ve known Fred for more than two days. And I’ve been in love with him for more than two days. If you want to know the truth, Oliver, I wouldn’t be afraid to say I was in love with him while I was with you.” Ouch. Harsh much. I could tell that stung him, stung him deep. It looked as if fire was in his eyes and I could tell that his heart dropped, crashed and burned from those words.

“Wow,” he said. “Why don’t you just tell me how you really feel next time, k?” He brushed into me hard as he walked past me. I felt bad, but said nothing. I didn’t even watch him leave. I just kept facing forward in the direction I was standing until he said something.

“Oh, and Emma,” he went on. He waited for me to turn around.

“Yes, my dear Oliver,” I said sarcastically. He paused before continuing.

I slept most of the train ride back home. Well, tried to, anyway. The fact Oliver cared so much about Fred and I shagging was making me crazy. I didn’t know why I cared so much – I knew I shouldn’t. It’s Oliver. At this point, he meant nothing to me. Which in a way, was sad. We were such good friends prior to our relationship. And then everything just took a turn for the worst. I was worried that the same thing might happen between Fred and I. I loved him so much. I didn’t want that to happen…but if things didn’t work out in the end…

‘Ugh, stop it Emma!’ I told myself. I couldn’t even think about that. Losing Fred would kill me. My heart began to break just thinking about it.

“You okay?” Fred asked, kissing the top of my head. He must have sensed my uneasiness. I looked up at him and nuzzled into his arm.

“Yeah,” I said, giving a smile. “I’m just nervous.”

“Ha! Nervous? Emma, you have nothing to be nervous about.”

“I know…but the other times I’ve come to your house were when we were friends. And this is the first time I’m coming to your house as…your girlfriend…”

“Yeah. So?” Fred said. He laughed as he kissed the top of my head. “If you only knew, Emma.”

“Knew what?” I asked, stopping him from kissing my lips.

“Have you really no clue?” he asked. I shrugged and he shook his head. “Babe, my family has been waiting for this for forever. They always thought we would end up together and, frankly, if anything, they’re pissed it didn’t happen sooner. So stop being nervous, they are more than excited to call you family.”

Family? Okay, that might be a stretch. It’s not like Fred and I were engaged or anything. And if I had anything to do about it, that wouldn’t be for awhile. But I knew the Weasleys and I knew that they were more family-oriented anyway. So I just assumed that it wasn’t that big of a deal and I was over-analyzing yet again. I smiled up at Fred and my heart melted when he smiled his gorgeous smile back.

“I’m excited too,” I confessed, my smile growing bigger. Fred leaned in to kiss me and I put my hand along his jaw to keep him from stopping. I seriously loved the way our lips moved together. Maybe his family was right. Maybe we were meant to end up together. But for forever? Could I see myself marrying Fred someday? As I kissed him, I knew I would never be able to be with someone else other than him. And goodness, I hoped he felt the same.

“Getting a head-start on the baby making, I see,” a Scottish accent interrupted us. I broke away from Fred and saw Oliver leaning against the doorframe of our compartment. Ugh, this was irritating! Why couldn’t he just leave me alone?!

“FUCK YOU, OLIVER!” I screamed at him. I was about to jump up and kick him in the balls, but Fred beat me to it. Fred pinned Oliver up against the doorframe by the cuff of his shirt. His fist was aimed for Oliver’s jaw and his muscles…ugh, his muscles…. They were bulging out of his arms and, honestly, it was so hot. Oliver had the look of death all over him and I laughed to myself. But holy…I had never seen Fred this pissed before. It kind of scared me.

“You stay the FUCK away from my girlfriend, got it, Wood?!” he growled. “Don’t talk to her; don’t look at her; don’t even think about her! And if I find out that you did, that you fucked around with her again, I WILL break your face!” He dropped Oliver to the ground and watched him scurry off.

I stayed silent as Fred came back over and sat next to me. He didn’t say anything either as he put his head in his hands. He stayed like that for a minute until he moved them into a praying position around his nose. I didn’t know if I should say anything so I just put my hand on his leg to reassure him. He turned his head slightly to me, and a wry smile formed on his lips. He moved his hands from his face and placed his left on mine. He kissed my lips with a tenderness I didn’t think was possible.

“You know, I love you a lot, right?” I said when he broke away. He smiled softly.

“Hello! Come in, come in! Hurry, before you catch cold,” said Molly Weasley when we finally arrived to the Weasley home. I immediately was welcomed by hugs from Molly and Arthur, and Fred put his arm around me, my nerves suddenly slipping away.

The Weasley home looked exactly like I had remembered it. It was so homey and, though it was a bit crammed, they made it work, always having enough room for an extra person. Fred, George and I had all made some incredible memories here over the last seven years; be it pulling pranks on Percy and Charlie, having Quidditch tournaments in the yard, or having long, deep conversations on the roof until the early morning hours. This house was truly our sanctuary and I couldn’t even fathom another place as close to the word “home” as this was.

“Oh, Emma, it’s so good to have you as part of the family now,” Molly said, squeezing my hand. “I mean, you always were, but…well, it’s just we’ve waited for this for a long time.”

“The boy finally came through, after all these years, didn’t ya now?” Arthur added, giving Fred a gentle punch in the arm.

“Maybe if she hadn’t been so stubborn it would’ve been sooner,” Fred replied, a smirk across his face.

“Uh, excuse me,” I started, laughing. “But I don’t recall you ever officially asking me to be your girlfriend on a frequent basis.”

“Wait, you mean he hasn’t gotten down on one knee yet?!” Arthur responded. I must have had a confused and worried look on my face because he began to laugh. “Oh, I’m just kidding, Emmy, don’t look so scared.”

“Except he wouldn’t shut up about how gorgeous you were every time you turned your back,” George interjected. “God, the bloat was stuck on you since first year!”

“Really?!” I turned to Fred. “Since first year?” I could tell this embarrassed him, and I could tell why in a sense. They were making him look a bit cowardly since it was our final year at Hogwarts. But I didn’t see him that way at all. In fact, I fell a little bit more in love with him because of it.

“…It’s just you had the prettiest eyes,” he murmured.

“And the shiniest hair, and the most gorgeous smile and the cutest little nose he’d ever seen!” the Weasleys sang in unison. I laughed as I watched my boyfriend’s face turn a bright crimson and butterflies danced around in my stomach.

“Aw, baby,” I sang, resting my hand on his chest. “You’re so cute. That is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard.” I kissed him on the cheek and as he smiled, the redness of his face began to vanish.

“So the gang’s all here, finally?” said a voice from the top of the stairs. Bill walked down with a blonde babe behind him. For as long as I've known the Weasleys, I had never officially met Bill before so my nerves began to rise from within again.

“Bill, you big bloat, out of the way so we can take our things upstairs,” Ron said, clearly agitated by listening to Fred’s love story. I knew Ron was similar to Fred, in that, he had first developed a crush on Hermione during his first year too. It’s just, like Fred I supposed, Ron hadn’t developed the guts to tell her…and I figured it’d be a long time until he ever did.

“And I need to get back to the kitchen,” Molly said. “Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes!” George, Ron and Ginny made their way upstairs with their things and Arthur went to the living room to finish reading the Daily Prophet. All that was left was Fred, Bill, the blonde and I.

“Yes,” I answered. I was feeling so shy right now. I always was when meeting people for the first time, especially when they were a part of my boyfriend’s family. It just made everything more tense and awkward.

“That’s a tough position to play,” Bill said. “Really hectic and intense. How long have you been on the team?”

“Since first year,” I said. Bill’s eyes quickly widened.

“Wow, a first year,” he repeated. “That’s pretty impressive.” I didn’t see why though. My infamous friend, Harry Potter, had made it his first year too. But I supposed, in comparison to other players, it was a rarity. That, or just because I was a girl. Either way, I took his compliment as a good sign.

“Well, we better get our things upstairs,” Fred suggested, picking up his suitcase.

“Of course, do you need help carrying anything?” Bill offered.

“Sure, that would be great,” I said. I had tried to pack lightly, I really had. But that had always been an issue for me. At least this time, I ended up with two suitcases instead of my typical three and a half. Bill picked up my suitcase and led the way to my room. It was actually fairly large compared to the other rooms in the house. A queen sized bed was in the center of the left wall and a bathroom was located in the back right corner. There was a fairly big closet on the front wall next to the door and two end tables next to the sides of the bed. Bill set my suitcase onto the bed while Fred stood in the doorway.

“This is where the two of you will be staying,” Bill said, exiting.

“Wait, both of us?” Fred asked. “You mean, we’re both sleeping…” He was cut off by Bill’s laughter, which was a deep low chuckle that was so different than the other Weasleys.

“Don’t think that anyone in this house is under the impression that you two haven’t slept in the same bed before,” he said, winking. “You can thank George for the idea. He figured it’d make your holiday a little bit more…fun.” He smirked as I felt my face turn red. You mean…Fred’s family knew about…oh shit…

“I’m gonna kill him!” Fred exclaimed, slapping his palm to his forehead. This only made Bill laugh all the more, and suddenly, I couldn’t make eye contact with him.

“I’ll just leave the two of you alone,” he said, closing the door. I was silent for a while after the door had finally shut. Great. Now everyone was assuming that Fred and I would be sleeping together. Granted, I figured we probably would. It was hard to keep our hands off of each other. But now that the whole house knew that Fred and I were shagging, it just made things extra awkward.

“God, he just can’t keep his mouth SHUT, can he?!” Fred said, falling back on the bed. I laughed as I laid down next to him.

“Oh, don’t be mad at him, baby,” I said trying to comfort him. “They know we’re in love and that, clearly, you have been for awhile.” I winked at him, but it only embarrassed him all the more.

“Baby,” I sang, noticing this. I ran my finger down his chest slowly and leaned on top of him to kiss him.

“It’s just going to be so awkward now, knowing that they know,” he confessed.

“Well, I’m not complaining,” I whispered, a smile across my face. I kissed his jaw and neck in between breaks. “I actually like having a room to ourselves…” I moved my hands down his chest as I kissed his lips. My right hand made its way to his hair as my left traveled up his shirt so I could touch his athletic skin. Fred put his hands around my neck and tangled his fingers in my hair before he broke away.

“Oh, believe me,” he began, smiling, “I like it too.” He kissed me again, his hands moving along my waist and touching my skin. I turned so I was on my back and he was on top of me, and I bit his lip so he knew I wanted more. He groaned eagerly and moved his hands up to my chest. He slid his tongue into my mouth and I returned the favor, his tongue playing with mine. He massaged my chest as our bodies began to move in motion to one another’s. His lips suddenly made their way to my neck and he began sucking on it slowly. Oh, how I wanted to throw his shirt off! How I wanted him to rip off mine! But I knew we didn’t have much time and so, as much as I hated to, I pushed him off of me.

“Save some for later,” I said, licking my lips. I could see from his face that this turned him on and it took just about all I had not to pounce on him right then and there. Thank God the door opened shortly after.

“Dinner’s ready!” Molly chirped. And with that, Fred and I made our way downstairs for dinner.

Christmas Eve had finally arrived and with it came a white soft snow that covered the grounds of the Weasley residence. Earlier that day, Fred, George and I had played outside in the snow and the Weasleys had a huge snowball fight to top it off. It had been such a fun day and I was able to sneak in a few kisses with Fred occasionally, which warmed me up from the cold.

Afterwards, there was a huge feast for everyone. Molly had prepared a traditional Christmas Eve dinner with roasted duck, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, baked corn and, for dessert, pumpkin pie. I was so stuffed by the end of the meal. I couldn’t even imagine what tomorrow’s dinner would be like!

It was tradition in the Weasley home to give one gift to each person on Christmas Eve. Everyone went around and chose a gift from under the tree, except for Fleur because Bill said he had something extra special to give her. I laughed when Ron got an itchy, and rather hideous, home-made sweater from Molly that she had “stitched with love” for him. He didn’t look at all thrilled and I hoped I wasn't getting something of the same nature.

In fact, I got something much better than a sweater, and thank God for it. Molly and Arthur thought to get me something for Christmas as well – an original book of the best Quidditch plays in history! I loved it and thanked them immensely for it. Fred and George both got matching sweaters with their initials on it, but instead of having the same reaction as Ron, they looked at each other and winked. Ugh. The Weasley Twins up to no good once again. Finally, everyone had received a gift except for Fleur.

Everyone was anxious to see what Bill had gotten Fleur, especially since he made her wait last. He seemed a little nervous, but excited and happy at the same time. I had absolutely no idea what it could be, for he didn’t have a box or package or anything near him. Finally, he cleared his throat and took Fleur’s hands.

“Fleur,” he began. “When I first met you, I immediately decided that I had to have you. I thought you were the most beautiful girl on the planet and every day you grow more and more beautiful. You make me so happy and make me a better person just by being who you are. I love you so much, Fleur, and I can’t imagine my life without you.” My heart began to melt at the words Bill was saying to Fleur, praying those same words would be said to me someday. Fred put his arm around me and held my hand as he kissed the top of my head. Scratch that. Fred had already said those words to me, and I knew he meant every word. I looked up at him and saw in his eyes how much he loved me and I knew deep down I was falling even deeper in love with him every day. Suddenly, my thoughts were broken by Bill getting down on one knee before Fleur.

“Fleur,” he started, a more serious tone in his voice. He removed a small black box from his pocket and opened it. Inside revealed a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring that sparkled at every angle. “Will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”

“Yes!” she said, leaning down to kiss him. Everyone cheered and Molly wiped tears from her eyes. It was official. Bill and Fleur were getting married! I had to admit that it made me want the same thing. Wait – did I just admit that?! I didn’t really want to get married yet, right?! It’s way too soon. And I've only been dating Fred for a short while. So getting married is way out of the question…right? As everyone was saying congratulations and getting ready for bed, I turned to Fred and kissed him on the lips.

“I have something for you tonight,” I whispered seductively in his ear.

“Really?” he replied. “What might that be?”

“Oh, just something special I thought you might enjoy…” I whispered. He looked at me and raised his eyebrow and I just winked at him.

“It’s your present so I hope you enjoy it, at least,” I clarified. He shook his head and smiled.

“Anything involving you is an extreme delight,” he said softly. I was so smitten with this boy. It was almost unfair. And with the news of Bill and Fleur’s engagement, I felt myself wanting that same thing. But did I want it with Fred? I watched him as he interacted with his family and I knew that this is what I wanted forever. I knew…I wanted this…permanently.

My conscious was right. That was a huge statement, and if I really meant it then it was an even bigger one. I loved Fred, I knew that. I had always known that. And not only did I love Fred but I loved his entire family, and they certainly seemed to love me. I honestly couldn’t think about not having these people in my life forever. I wanted it, yes. I wanted Fred…to be my forever.

* * * * *

After everyone calmed down after giving their gifts, I snuck up to my room while Fred and George hung out downstairs. I was excited. I was in love. And both of those things together just made this night extra special for me. Granted, my gift to Fred wasn’t anything tangible…and it definitely wasn’t something he could tell his family about. But ever since Fred and I had gotten so close – along with my sudden realization of how strongly I wanted Fred in my life – I thought this might put a spark in our relationship that hadn’t before. This was the night when I gave Fred the time of his life and officially made it known to him that I was his; that my love for him was unconditional and permanent. And maybe a little bit that his girlfriend who he thought was a sweet, funny, outgoing girl also had a devious, wild side to her.

I used my wand to dim the lights in the room and set lit candles around the room in various places. I took off my clothes to reveal a very sexy, black lingerie ensemble. I messed up my hair, really trying to make myself look wild and out-of-control. I gave myself sultry eyes, spritzed some perfume on and brushed my teeth. I put a charm on the room that made it sound proof…just in case things got really wild. Better safe than sorry, I figured. I laid down on the bed on my side and got in position. It wasn’t long after that I heard a knock on the door.

“Emma, can I – oh my fuck…” Fred said when he entered the room. I smirked at his reaction to everything and the testosterone that oozed out of him.

“Lock the door,” I ordered. He did as I said, not taking his eyes off me. I got off the bed and slowly walked over to him, licking my lips while throwing my hand through my hair. Man, was he enjoying this, which made it so much more enjoyable for me too.

“Holy – ”

“Shh,” I whispered, putting a finger to his lips. I pinned him against the door and got close to him. “You’re so chatty…Why don’t you shut those lips and find a better use for them.” I licked his jaw line and he shivered from the wetness of my tongue.

“You wanna know a secret?” I began, unbuttoning his shirt slowly. He was dying from anticipation and I could tell by his face he was getting more and more turned on with every move I made. “I’ve…been one…” I kissed his neck, “naughty, naughty…girl this year…” I bit his ear and he responded in pleasure.

“I’ve been so bad,” I continued. “Father Christmas has told me to stay away from you.” I backed away from him but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into him.

“I haven’t?” I asked in a raspy tone. I put my arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. “How bad do you think I’d have to get?”

“Really…really…really bad…” he growled into my ear. He grabbed your ass and pinned me up against him. And God, did that make me want him. I quickly took off his shirt and rubbed my hands all over him. I kissed his neck and sucked on it hard, him moaning in pleasure. I took his hand and placed it on my chest, moving it up and down as he squeezed.

“Bad like this?” I asked. He looked in my eyes with an intense desire.

“…Not even close…” he said, sending shivers up my spine. I raised an eyebrow and shoved my tongue into his mouth. We made out like animals as our bodies began to move to each others. I broke away from him, panting with a smile across my face. I moved slowly downward, my hands touching every part of his body. I unzipped his pants and dropped them to the floor. I looked up at him and smiled a wicked smile.

“How ‘bout this?” I asked, licking my lips.

“Oh my God,” he reacted. He could barely take this anymore.

“Not yet?” I assumed. “Heh…you’re a hard one to please, Fred Weasley…” I began to tease him wickedly and, finally, I stood up and kissed him hard on the mouth. Almost immediately he shoved his tongue down my throat. He picked me up and I straddled him, locking my legs behind him. He moved me over to the bed and laid me down on my back as I tried to calm down. He undid my bra in one swift motion and began kissing and licking my chest. He moved his lips slowly down to my stomach and then farther, so that he was taking off my underwear. He looked up at me and smirked, raising an eyebrow at the same time. God, that got me going.

He kissed me hard on the mouth as he finally slid himself into me. We made love for what seemed like hours and I knew in the morning I'd be sore.

“I love you, Emma,” he said when we were finished. He laid down next to me and I cuddled up next to him. “But what the hell? You’ve been holding out on me, babe!” I laughed at his comment and kissed him on the lips. Oh, that was dangerous. I could go another round with that kiss of his.

“Oh hush,” I said. “You have your whole life to get more of that if you want it.” He smiled and stroked his nose to mine.

“My whole life, ya think?” he responded. I kissed him on the mouth passionately, my hand caressing his neck. He held me, rubbing my skin softly.

“Fred, I…” I started. But I couldn’t get the words out. I was too nervous! I didn’t know why exactly, because it was just Fred. But I had never said anything like this to anyone before. And what if he didn’t feel the same way?

‘Oh, shut up Emma,’ my conscious scolded. ‘You know for a fact he loves you more than anything else in the world.’

‘Yeah, but…this is a big deal…and this is an even bigger deal considering we haven’t been dating long at all!’

‘Officially, perhaps,’ my conscious continued. ‘But you and Fred have always had a unique connection. You’ve known each other for seven years almost and you know, deep down, you always loved him. And something tells me, Emma, he’s always dreamed of this too.’

“What is it, baby?” Fred asked, bringing me back to reality.

“I don’t want to live without you,” I whispered after a while of silence. He kissed the top of my forehead which made me smile.

“Don’t worry,” he reassured me. “You won’t have to.” We kissed gently again, with huge amounts of passion and love.

“I’m serious,” I continued after breaking away. “I…” Again, the words were hard to say. But I knew I had to say them or he’d be confused and, well, who knows if I'd ever muster them up!

“Well, tonight, after everything happened between Bill and Fleur, I guess I realized that…Fred…” I paused before continuing. “…I don’t want this to ever end…between us…” He smiled but also paused before saying anything.

“So…what you’re saying is…” He wanted me to finish it. To say the words. His smile was growing bigger and bigger the longer I waited and I knew he understood what I was saying.

“Fred Weasley,” I began. I smiled hard at what I was about to say, feeling confident in the smile he was revealing. I was so in love with this boy! “I want to marry you.”

Fred laughed at the statement, but it wasn’t a humorous laugh. It was a laugh that showed relief; that showed he wanted the same thing; that showed a sort of…irony, almost.

“Baby,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to marry you for years.” My heart turned inside out and my stomach twisted backwards. “Like, you don’t even know how happy that makes me feel. I, seriously, could run for miles and miles just telling the world.” He kissed me on the mouth with passion and vigor, and I wrapped my arms around him as he made his way back on top of me. We were laughing and smiling and kissing and overflowing with happiness. This is how I truly wanted to spend my life; telling each other how much we loved each other and laughing every inch of the way.

It was Christmas Day! I woke up to a vision of the sun brightly reflecting off the white, untouched, newly fallen snow that had descended overnight. I was alone in my bed, though, and also realized I still wasn't wearing any clothes. I wondered where Fred had gone and that’s when I heard the shower kick on. Last night was such a high for both of us, and I wondered what time it was. Would the Weasleys come to wake me up or were they still asleep?

I suddenly missed Fred uncontrollably and all I wanted was for him to be next to me, to feel his body next to mine, and kissing me, the love of his life. I got up and walked to the window, the sheet wrapped around me. I noticed that the door to the bathroom was open slightly, so I walked over, dropping the sheet before walking through.

The steam was hot and foggy in the room and I saw Fred standing in the shower. I closed the door and he turned around and saw me. I smiled as I opened the door to the shower and he returned the favor.

“Well, good morning,” he said, enthralled by my presence. I put my arms around him and smiled shyly.

“Hi,” I whispered shyly. He put his hands around my waist and I kissed him on the mouth, the water falling down over our bodies. We kissed longingly, the moistness of the shower infusing the kiss and our desire for each other.

“I missed you too, babe,” he whispered as he kissed my ear. “So…is this my Christmas present?” I giggled at his question and he smiled.

“It could be,” I answered. “But we probably shouldn’t stay in here too long. Who knows when everyone will be looking for us.”

“Then I guess we better get on with it,” he said, grinning. He picked me up and I shrieked with delight as he pinned me up against the shower wall. He kissed my lips and I could feel him smile during it. Never in a million years would I have thought that I, Emma Blakely, would be sharing a shower with Fred and, yet, here I was. We kissed and laughed, similarly to how we had ended our night last night, as we made love in the shower. And really that’s what it was. Making love to the only boy I've ever truly loved and forever would. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“Are you both in there?!” George asked from outside the door. It could’ve been an awkward moment for us but we both just erupted with laughs and giggles.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be out in a minute,” Fred said, me laughing in the background. I quickly kissed Fred on the lips with as much passion as I could muster and Fred turned off the shower. Fred wrapped a towel around me and dried me off. We then both got dressed and quickly went downstairs.

When we got downstairs, everyone else was down there and Ron and Ginny had already begun opening their presents. Immediately, Molly jumped up to hug and greet us with “Happy Christmas!” as she gave us both some gifts. When everyone was about finished, Molly noticed something.

“Wait! Didn’t you two get each other something?” Molly asked referring to Fred and I.

“I think Emma already gave Fred her present,” George answered, with a wink. I blushed, not making eye contact with anyone and folded my hands together. I really hoped no one would ask me what. I wasn't one to lie, and I didn’t know how I would ever beat around this bush.

“And, well...of course, I got you something, babe,” Fred commented before anyone could interject. “I just…have to wait a little bit longer before I can give it to you.” Now that made me curious. Really curious.

“Fred, what did you get me?” I asked, interested. He laughed.

“You’ll know soon enough,” he answered. Hmph. I wasn't satisfied with that. I wanted to know what he got me…and I wanted it now. Why did everyone else get their presents but I had to wait for mine? Ugh. This was not fair. Maybe I'd withhold something from him unless he told me….

Molly had prepared, yet again, a delicious Christmas feast and everyone sat at the table to dig in. The whole time during dinner all I could think about was what Fred had gotten me. I know I shouldn't have been that annoyed about it, but I really wanted to know! He kept putting his hand on my knee, and I wasn't sure if that was appropriate or not since his whole family was around. But as long as Fred was comfortable with it and they didn’t make an issue, I didn’t mind.

Later, Fred and I went outside in the cold snow. We were playing, having a snow ball fight and I was actually winning until, suddenly, Fred was gone. He just disappeared. I looked around and behind the house but I couldn’t find him.

‘Where the heck did he go?’ I wondered, confused as ever. Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms quickly grab me and I screamed from the impact.

“Fred, you prick!” I scolded him as he laughed. He kissed my lips and I tried not to kiss him back. That was incredibly hard, though.

“I win!” he said, a victorious grin pasted to his face. I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, cheater!” I teased, trying to stay mad at him. He frowned while giving me those mega-wide puppy eyes. He was really making this difficult.

“Baby,” he sang. He kissed my nose and I rolled my eyes, a reluctant grin breaking across my face.

“Not falling for it,” I said, turning my face from him. He laughed and nuzzled his face into my hair.

“Baby, please don’t be mad at me!” he pleaded sweetly, kissing me behind my ear. Ugh. He was being unbelievably cute. And he knew it too.

“I want my present,” I said, breaking from his hold. He sighed, and I knew I had struck a nerve with him.

“Hmm, ironic. You normally like my begging,” I reminded him, playing with his coat collar. I smirked and he mirrored my expression as he exhaled deeply. He knew I was right and I felt confident, knowing I had once again won another argument.

“Emmaaaa!” he whined as I laughed. Holy crap did I love him. As cliché as it was, we really were made for each other.

“Alright, alright,” I said. “I’ll be patient…but only because you’re acting so cute.” He smiled and cocked his head to the side.

“Did I just beat you in an argument?” he asked, a wry smile across his face. I hit him playfully in the arm and rolled my eyes.

“Shut up,” I said, smirking. I softly met his lips and kissed with passion. My hands made my way to the sides of his face and his grip tightened around my back. My hands began to play in his hair and I broke for air a few times before resuming our kisses. Suddenly, I felt cold wet drops hit my face and hair and I realized it was snowing.

“Look,” I said, breaking away from the kiss. Fred looked up and saw the snowflakes falling around us. We were still for a moment, letting the moment sink in. It was quite breathtaking, I had to admit. Finally, he met my eyes and smiled.

“Wow,” he expressed. I cocked my head, and smiled, thinking he was referring to the snow.

“You are so beautiful,” he continued. My heart did a flip as my mouth opened in flattery, the corners of my lips turning up into a smile. I was so in love with Fred; he honestly could say anything and I'd probably get the urge to do somersaults from it.

“I mean,” he went on, “All this beautiful, white snow is falling around us, and you stillmanage to take my breath away.” My smile grew and I wanted to kiss him, but he continued.

“Baby…when I first met you, I knew you were beautiful. I was smitten from day one, but, Em, what I didn’t know was…how over the years…how madly and deeply in love with you I’d actually fall. And let me tell you, baby, I’ve fallen hard.” He paused before continuing again.

“You have become the most important person in my life, and I never would have guessed that when I first met you. But I wouldn’t trade you for anything; not for the moon, not for the stars, the sun, or the whole world! Because baby, you are my world…you are my moon…you are my stars…you are my everything.” I had never heard such beautiful words before, and I was feeling weak at the knees by this little speech he was giving.

“And last night, when you told me you wanted to spend your life with me, it just made every part of me burst with joy. Because that’s what I’ve wanted my whole life. I want to spend every waking minute of my life with you, Emma. I always have, and I always will. And that will never, EVER change….” I looked in his eyes and became overcome with emotion as the words he said registered in my mind. He smiled and held my cold hands in his, warming them with his touch. And that’s when he really surprised me.

“Emma Blakely,” he said, getting down on one knee. He pulled out a small, navy box from his coat and opened it up. Written inside the box, in Fred’s sweet handwriting, was,‘Because you are my best friend.’ My eyes immediately dropped to the object inside of it. My heart stopped beating and I felt my blood go cold as I gazed down at the ring staring up at me.

“Will you marry me?” he asked, nerves shaking in his voice.

‘OH MY GOD!!’ my insides screamed. ‘OH MY FREAKING GOD!!’ Fred Weasley – yes, MY Fred Weasley – just proposed to ME! I didn’t know what to do. I knew how I felt but my head was saying, ‘It’s too soon! Are you kidding? Yes you love him, but, you know you’re not prepared for this!’ On the other hand, my heart was bursting with ‘SAY YES, SAY YES, SAY YES!’ And I was just too shocked to do anything.

“Oh my…Fred…” I said, a smile creeping onto my face. “I…” I was scared. That was the truth. But I was also in love. And I was scared if I said no…ah, fuck it, I had no reason to say no!

I looked deep into Fred’s eyes; those eyes that took me to another world, that I couldn’t resist getting lost in, and smiled from ear to ear. I inhaled deeply and braced myself for what I was about to say, how he'd react, how my life would forever change. Because the truth was...

“Ah, I’ve missed you so much!” Hermione said, wrapping me into a hug. I missed her a lot and had so much to tell her…but how – or rather, how much – was the question. I had discussed with Fred about keeping our engagement on the down-low for now…we hadn’t even told his family about it. But that was proving to be relatively difficult now because…well, I was excited about it. Besides, I wanted to call up my dad and have him meet Fred. I was a traditionalist so I had always dreamed of my future husband asking my father’s permission first. And even though I had already said yes, I still wanted Fred to do that.

“So how was your Christmas?” Hermione asked. Ugh. How was it?! How do I even begin to explain this…

“Hermione…” I started. I wanted to tell her. I really wanted to tell her. Hermione was my best friend and a loyal roommate. Plus…I wanted her to be…well, my maid of honor. But…how would she react?

“Yeah, I suppose it is,” I agreed. Well, that was a good sign. She thought their engagement was wonderful. But then again, Bill and Fleur had been dating for a year…not a few months…. Could I tell her? I trusted her to keep it under-wraps, yes. But…was now the right time? Ugh, was there ever a right time?!

“And…Hermione,” I began. She looked up and waited for my response. I paused, debating on what to say…or how to say it…

“So did I,” I spit out. It was coldly silent.

“I’m sorry…you what?” Hermione asked. I wasn’t sure if she really didn’t understand or if she just didn’t want to believe it.

“Fred proposed,” I answered. I unhitched the necklace from around my neck and revealed the ring Fred had given to me dangling from it. I took it off and placed it on my left ring finger. Woah…it was the first time I had done that, really…and I suddenly realized how real this all was. Wow…I was getting married. To Fred Weasley. In only a few more months.

“Oh my God!” Hermione said as she took hold of my hand. She examined the ring, as did I. It was a really gorgeous ring. Apparently it had been Fred’s grandmother’s and was the ring Arthur gave to Molly when he proposed. It was a platinum, prong set ring with a round diamond solitaire embraced by a micropavé double halo setting. This ring had been passed down from generation to generation and, if Fred and I had kids, it would be passed down to them as well when the time was right. Because this ring was so special to the family, it was the mother’s decision to give it to whichever son they felt was ready…so why Molly decided to give it to Fred, especially considering how short of a timeframe we had been dating, was beyond me. That was something I could ask her in a later time, though.

“I know it’s soon,” I said. “But…we’re in love, Hermione. And I don’t want to spend my life with anyone else but him – I know that for a fact. So…why wait? Why waste time?” She studied me for a minute and then smiled softly.

“I mean…we all sort of knew you would end up being together,” Hermione went on. “We just didn’t think it’d be this soon!” She smiled before continuing. “I’m happy for you, Emma. Truly, I am.”

“Good,” I said, a relief coming over me. “Because it’d be a shame if my maid of honor wasn’t.” Her eyes grew wide at the words I said.

“WHAT?!” she screeched, an even bigger smile forming on her face. “Emma!!” She hugged me and laughed at the news. “Of course I’ll be your maid of honor! Emma, this is…just…thank you, Em.” She hugged me again and I was relieved getting that off my chest. Of course, I’d have to tell Fred later, but I knew he’d understand.

* * * * *

Months passed, and my final year at Hogwarts was finally making its close. After all the years I had participated in the end of the term feast, none quite lived up to this year’s. It was finally here. Graduation. I was a mix of emotions, actually: excited to be done with school, thrilled to be marrying Fred once I was done, but at the same time, sad because I worried whether I would see any of the students or my favorite professors again.

I felt Fred put his arms around me from behind and place his head on my shoulder. He must have sensed my anxiousness and kissed my shoulder reassuringly. I couldn’t believe in just a few weeks, I’d be married to this man. I touched my engagement ring secured around my neck and I realized that today, after the ceremony, that I would finally be able to put it on my finger.

It had been really hard not telling anyone that Fred and I were engaged, although rumors had spread that that might be the case. No one pried us about it though, which made it a little easier. The only one who knew, as far as I was concerned, was Hermione and she promised to never tell a soul. However, I wasn’t positive that Fred hadn’t slipped anything to George or Ron. They were his brothers after all.

“We finally won’t have to put up with bloody OWLS or Snape anymore,” George piped in. “Of course, we did make some good memories at this place.”

“I think I’ll miss it,” I confessed. I watched as the twins stifled a laugh even though I was being serious. “Oh, don’t mock me; I will!”

“Oh my,” Fred said pulling me in for a hug. “Who are you and what have you done with my Emma Blakely?” I tickled his ribs as I smiled up at him and watched him squirm. He was right though. I was excited to get out of here and never have to see Snape’s face again or take an exam. But at the same time, this place had been my home for the last seven years, and it would be hard to leave all the same.

We took our seats at our regular spot; myself next to Fred, Fred next to George, Ron across from him, Harry next to Ron and Hermione across from me. Next to Hermione sat Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood along with many other Gryffindors that I knew. Just then, Dumbledore stepped up to the podium.

“Good evening,” he began. “Once again, it has dwindled down to that time of year where we must reflect on what we have learned this year, be grateful for the friendships we’ve made, and say goodbye to those seventh year students who will leave us this evening, taking with them the knowledge they have acquired at Hogwarts and pertaining it to the Wizarding world around them.”

I realized in that moment that this would be the last time I’d see Dumbledore up at that podium, the last time I’d hear his end of the term speech, the last time I’d see Professor McGonagall fight back the tears welling up in her eyes, the last time I’d sit next to Fred and George, across from Hermione and Harry and Ron, the last time I’d sit in this hall, eat this feast…and suddenly, I was having trouble fighting back the tears. I grabbed Fred’s hand as an anchor to control my emotions, but it didn’t really help.

“Shall we begin with a few words from one of Hogwarts’ finest students,” Dumbledore continued. “Throughout his seven years at Hogwarts, he has made an impression among students through his academics, in his relationships with others, and his natural ability in leadership both on and off the Quidditch Pitch.” Quidditch Pitch?! Oh no. I looked around to find the one person who Dumbledore might be describing, but no matter where I looked, my eyes couldn’t find him. Oh, Dumbledore…please…please not –

“Please stand with me as I welcome one of Hogwarts’ finest, young men one last time…Mr. Oliver Wood.”

I held my breath as I stood and grasped that Oliver was about to give the final speech for our class, on the year and his experience at Hogwarts. I couldn’t help but worry about what he might say, if he would say anything about me or…worse…

“Thank you,” Oliver said, cueing everyone to be seated. He paused and cleared his throat until the room fell silent. I couldn’t look as he started.

“Fellow classmates, friends and students,” he began. “There comes a time where students and professors alike must sit back and reflect upon who they are, where they’ve come from and how they’ve changed. For myself, I look back on my seven years of Hogwarts and one word comes to mind: grateful.

“The memories that render my mind as I reflect on my time at Hogwarts leave me with an abundant gratitude toward my professors, friends and fellow students. While at times there were moments that left me discouraged and frazzled, there were lessons behind them that shaped me into, as Dumbledore claims,” he smirked before he went on, “the fine, young man I am today.” I rolled my eyes as he gloated in his glory. Ugh. Fine, young man my ass. He was still a conceited pig to me –

“But let me encourage you, my fellow wizards and witches, to do the same. To be grateful for the time we’ve had at Hogwarts. For we have not been privileged to attend Hogwarts for nothing. Hogwarts has prepared us for much more than the knowledge of spells or potions. Hogwarts has prepared us for life in all circumstances; be it in how we adapt to situations when things don’t go according to plan, or how we find the courage deep within ourselves to do things we think we can’t possibly do, only to find that we had the ability to do it all along. Hogwarts has prepared us in learning how to live on our own, away from our parents, away from our families and has really taught us how to grow up into wizards and witches they are proud to claim as their own. Hogwarts has helped us figure out who we are, where we came from and how the fears of our pasts don’t limit our futures.” Wow. This was a really awesome speech. I never realized how keen of a speaker Oliver was, and soon I began to relax as I hung on every word the Scottish wizard said.

“Hogwarts has truly trained us for the things that will await us once leaving this place. In how we conduct ourselves, in our work ethics and in our studies.” He paused, before continuing on. When he looked up my eyes met his and we just stayed like that for a moment, just looking into each others’ eyes. No. I was not falling under the spell of Oliver Wood again. No, but something was going on inside of him. Something he was searching for. Wanting. Asking for? Either way, I got a bad feeling inside of what he was about to say next.

“But most importantly…” he continued, “…in our relationships.”

Gulp. Shit. Fuck. What was he going to say about that?! That was only a cue to another paragraph about relationships and…what if he brought up a…personal experience?

“Look around us,” he began, which was ironic for him to say considering he didn’t take his eyes off of me. “Look at the friendships we’ve made. These are the friendships that will be with us forever. These are the relationships that have made us who we are. These are the people who taught us how to live.

“To the seventh years who, along with me, will be leaving this place tonight,” he finished. “Remember your time at Hogwarts. Remember the experiences you had. Remember the good, the bad, the hopeful and the horrific, for these are the experiences that have shaped us into who we are and who we are yet to be. Remember where you have come from and the roots you have made through these halls, the impressions you’ve made upon those here, and the legacy you leave behind for students and professors to come. Thank you.”

The room broke into applause and I couldn’t help but stand with everyone else in a bustling and roaring ovation. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Oliver really did inspire and his speech was truly phenomenal. If it had been me up at that podium, I wouldn’t have known what to say at all, yet Oliver spoke with ease, confidence and, as always, charm. Dumbledore stood to the podium and lifted his hands cueing everyone to sit. As the cheers and clapping faded down, Dumbledore smiled, and I knew the ceremony was near over.

“Thank you, Mr. Wood, for those inspiring and motivating words,” Dumbledore started. “We shall truly miss your leadership and presence throughout this school. And now, it is time to announce the winners of this year’s House Cup.” Everyone suddenly was on the edge of their seats and all eyes were glued to Dumbledore, giving them their utmost attention.

“In fourth place with 1,629 points…Hufflepuff!” Everyone cheered out of respect, but no one particularly was excited. It was fourth place…what’s to really be excited about?

“In third place with 1,887 points…Ravenclaw!” Again, everyone cheered and most of the Ravenclaws slumped back in disappointment, except the first years, who were mostly excited they weren’t in fourth.

“In second place with 2,074 points…”

‘This was it,’ I thought. ‘The House Cup winner rests on the results of this announcement.’ And if Slythren was announced as second…I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stop cheering.

“…SLYTHREN!” Dumbledore announced. The cheers from the Gryffindor tables erupted, as did Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The reality, as always in Hogwarts, was that nobody wanted Slythren to win the House Cup.

“Which means,” Dumbledore continued above the noise. Everyone shushed down before he went on. “That the winners of this year’s House Cup…with 2,503 points is…” he paused before answering. Say it…say it…OH MY GOSH, DUMBLEDORE JUST SAY IT –

“…GRYFFINDOR!” Wizard and witches hats flew in the air as I stood up along with my House in excitement. I put my arms around Fred and hugged him as he spun me around. We won. Our House won! What an awesome way to end my career at Hogwarts. I kissed Fred square on the mouth and he passionately held my head in place to kiss me back. I couldn’t help but smile as I kissed him and I felt a smile break across his lips too. I broke away and as I looked into my fiancé’s eyes and he put his hands around my neck, undoing the necklace that held my engagement ring. He pulled it off of me, a smile on his face and slowly placed the ring on my left ring finger. I stared down at it for a few seconds before clutching his hand and meeting his eyes again.

“Let’s tell them,” he said. “Tell them all. Right here. Right now.” I nodded and Fred stood up on his seat and whistled, quieting everyone down.

“I have an announcement!” Fred projected throughout the room. “My name is Fred Weasley and I am in love with Emma Blakely!” Whistles and cheers scattered throughout the room before Fred continued.

“But the best part is,” he went on. He looked down at me and put out his hand, wanting me to stand up with him. I shook my head but he pulled me up by the wrist anyway.

“…I’m gonna marry her!” He quickly threw my arm above my head so everyone could see the ring on my finger. Again, the room erupted with cheers and whistles and applause, even from some of the professors such as Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin. I couldn’t help but laugh as I saw the mouths of the Weasley brothers and Harry drop to the floor in shock. Out of everyone, they were the most excited. Fred kissed me on the lips and the cheers grew even louder and more out of control.

As I sat down in my seat, my eyes met a familiar, yet sad and confused face…the one and only…Oliver. I didn’t think it would bother me – no, it shouldn’t bother me at all! But…I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. Yes, it had been months since we talked, since Fred and I had gotten together, but the reality is he should’ve known it was serious. Everyone else did! And the rumors had been going around. Maybe he was just dismissing them because…oh, who knows, honestly. He shook his head a little and left my gaze, but I knew in his eyes he was hurt.

Dumbledore dismissed us and gave his good lucks for the seventh year students. The seventh year students then rose for a special applause and special acknowledgement. Then we proceeded out the Great Hall and out toward the boats that first carried us to Hogwarts our first year. It was really sentimental, walking out those doors, but I was ready. The class had a few moments before boarding to say goodbye to everyone. A lot of people came up to Fred and I, wishing their congratulations and best of luck to us. Fred had gone off somewhere and I was talking to a group of girls as they admired my ring, when I suddenly was interrupted.

“Emma!” a voice said behind me. I turned around and there a few feet away stood Oliver, attractive and charming as ever. I cocked my head to the side and walked over to him, giving him permission to converse.

“Nice speech, Wood,” I complimented him. “Really. Very well done and inspiring. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you.” I smiled, trying to make sure he knew I was sincere and it appeared he did.

“Thanks,” he said, a smirk across his face. “And I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you either. With your engagement.” I frowned. What was that supposed to mean?!

“Oh stop,” he laughed, “I’m congratulating you.”

“Poor choice of words, I’m afraid, Wood,” I said, a frown still across my face.

“What I mean is…I knew it would end up being you and him in the end,” he confessed. Woah…what?! He knew what?!

“Oh…well…thank you,” was all I could muster up. What was I seriously supposed to say to that anyway?

“It’s a beautiful ring,” he said, admiring my finger.

“Oh, thanks,” I answered, bringing it up to light.

“It really suits you,” he continued. “But I can’t half notice it since your eyes sparkle a million times brighter.” He smirked as he watched my mouth drop. Was he seriously hitting on me, STILL, as an engaged woman?!

“Watch it, Wood,” I sneered as he laughed at my expression. I had to laugh too, actually. Oh, Oliver Wood. Will you never grow up?

“Thanks for being a great Quidditch Captain all these years,” I said, changing the subject. “You really were terrific.”

“I know,” he said, smirking and I rolled my eyes. He laughed and I couldn’t hide back a smirk.

“Typical Oliver,” I expressed.

“But no, thank you, Emma,” he began. “For being my star player…even when I…wasn’t a star captain.” Geez, where was all this coming from? Oliver being sentimental? It had to have been because of the hype of graduating. Let it all out, Wood, let it all out.

“Well, best of luck to you in your Quidditch career,” I wished him.

“And to you in your marriage,” he added, though it was a more serious tone. Suddenly, I felt him wrap his arms around me and pull me in for a hug. What?! What was going on with him today?! Oliver was now hugging me? I didn’t want to seem awkward so I hugged him back, but it was short-lived.

“Emma, we need to go,” Fred said, slipping his arm around me and pulling me out of Oliver’s arms. I looked up to read his face and there was a slight glare on it. Ugh, great. Not now.

“Um, honey, Oliver was just congratulating us on our engagement,” I told Fred, hoping this would make things less awkward.

“Oh was he?” he asked. I noticed his eyes did lighten up a little, but it was probably because he wanted to rub it in Oliver’s face some more and he liked that Oliver understood that I was Fred’s. Ugh. I was not some trophy to be thrown around!

“Yes, congratulations, Fred,” Oliver said, shaking his hand. “I’ve got to tell you, you definitely have quite the catch here with Emma. You certainly beat me to it.” He was trying to be civil with Fred, but he was failing miserably as I noticed Fred’s eyes turn into glaring slits again.

“As was with you, Ms. Blakely…well, Weasley.” He looked a little distraught as I left but I couldn’t do anything about it. Besides, Oliver, it seemed, was still on Fred’s bad side…and, therefore, I had some explaining to do.

“Baby,” I started calmingly as I stepped into the boat. “Be nice.”

“Be nice?” Fred asked, a tad exasperated as he followed me. “Okay. Tell me to be nice when I walk over and find Oliver, your ex-boyfriend who hasn’t talked to you in months, not to mention the same guy I told to never talk or look at you again, suddenly with his arms around you and yours around him. Yeah, I can be nice to that.” Ugh. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought.

“Babe,” I said, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. “He honestly was just saying congratulations. That was it. He isn’t a threat, okay? Besides, it makes me feel like you don’t trust me when you get like this and if you don’t trust me then…” I knew this would sting him, but I had to say it, “…this isn’t going to work.”

He looked into my eyes almost immediately and I saw the sting in them. It’s not like I wanted that or anything or was turning him down! But he knew that I was right all the same. He held my chin and pulled me in to kiss him. It was a very soft and gentle kiss that had the word “Sorry” leaked through it. He broke away, but I stopped him by holding his head and bringing him back in for another. I wanted to make sure he knew that I loved him and that I was definitely going to marry him…and that I could hardly wait for it. When I pulled away, I looked into his eyes and smiled.

“Feel better now?” I asked, reading his face for an answer. He smirked and nodded kissing me quickly on the lips again.

“God, how you get to me,” he said once he broke away. He placed his arm around me and I stared up at the castle that used to be our school. It was a really touching moment for all of us, as I watched it disappear in the clouds. I almost got emotional thinking about it, the moment I first rode in on these boats and how I was literally sitting right next to Fred and George, just like we were now. It was unreal how things worked out. I never would have thought that these two people would mean so much to me…and that I would be marrying Fred the next time I’d be riding in these boats. I took Fred’s hand as I continued to watch the castle fade into the distance, and I smiled up at him and then to George, grateful that we would be in each other’s lives forever.

I sat straight up in bed, covered in sweat. I had that dream again! That dream where I was getting married to Fred, but after we kissed I was announced as Mrs. Oliver Wood and was married to Oliver instead. I didn’t know why I kept having this dream, but I was certain it wasn’t a sign of cold feet. I loved Fred; I knew it and I was more than ecstatic about today – our wedding day. Why would I ever dream of being married to Oliver? There had to be a reason I was having these dreams…but why?!

I looked at the clock and saw it was 2:45am. I calmed myself down and went back to sleep, trying to forget the dream I had. Luckily, it never came back.

* * * * *

I woke up to the bright sun in my face.

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Molly said, bustling me out of bed.

“Time to get ready for your big day, Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione sang as she, Fleur and Ginny dropped their bridesmaid dresses on the edge of the bed. I rolled out of bed and smiled. Today was a big day. I was marrying Fred today! I had dreamed of this day my whole life…from the dress, to the flowers, to the location…but nothing matched my dream wedding as perfect as my groom did. He truly was my dream husband…I couldn’t picture marrying anyone else.

Ginny began to do my hair while Fleur worked on my makeup. My hair was curled, pinned and sprayed with hairspray. I had no idea what the end result would look like but I trusted Ginny and trusted she would make me look absolutely beautiful. I also were putting a lot of faith into Fleur. I wasn’t sure how she was making my face look either, but Fleur always looked stunning so I hoped she was using some of her own makeup routine on me. Once they were finished, I helped with each of their own hair and makeup before slipping into my dress. At last, I was finished and as I turned around to face myself in the mirror, I almost lost it.

I stared at the beautiful creature standing before me in the mirror and realized this was real, and this was me. My hair was perfectly curled in ribbons flowing down my back and gracing my shoulders. An ivory peony was pinned on the right side of my hair behind my ear. My makeup was flawless and natural but still alluring and gorgeous. But what really amazed me was the dress and how, once everything was put together, how stunning it actually was. There I stood, in a fitted formal bridal gown with floral accents, a sweetheart neckline and elongated fitted bodice. The circular tulle skirt softened the appearance and the chapel train followed me effortlessly. I looked like I had stepped out of a garden utopia and I forced myself not to cry for fear of messing up Fleur’s perfect work.

My bridesmaids, who were soon to be my family, stood amazed at the vision before them, but I was just as amazed by them. Each of them, glowing perfectly in their pale pink strapless dresses that hit just above the knee, stood flawless with their low side pony-tails perfectly curled and relaxed. They looked so beautiful and I remembered to make a mental note to thank God for blessing me with such a gorgeous family. Molly finally handed me my bouquet and sniffled as she fought back the tears.

“One last thing,” she said softly, a sweet smile across her face. I looked back at my bridesmaids and suddenly felt something pinned to my head. I looked in the mirror and everything was complete. With my veil placed on my head, I was officially ready…I was officially a bride.

“…Hermione?” I called as I felt the tears coming. She came over and hugged me, and the rest of the women followed.

“Don’t cry, Emma, don’t cry,” Fleur urged as she entered the group hug. “I may have put waterproof mascara on you, but I can’t promise you that nothing else will smudge on your pretty face.”

“I’m not,” I said, a smile creeping in. They let go of me and we all laughed and smiled.

“Alright,” I said after awhile. “Let’s go get married!”

* * * * *

I met my dad at the front doors of the Weasley household. The wedding would be outdoors in their yard and man, was it beautiful. Pale pink, ivory and peach flower petals lined the aisle and a white carpet, per se, was leading the way to the altar. White birch trees framed the beginning of the aisle and an arch made of white birch was at the end of the altar, where Fred and I would stand for the ceremony. Wrapped around the birch trees were balls of pink, peach and blush flowers along with strings of pearls draped as a backdrop for the altar. It was truly one of the most beautiful visions I’d ever seen.

“You look amazing,” my dad said when I reached him.

“Thanks, Daddy,” I replied as I kissed his cheek. I noticed he was trying to not let me see him cry and I smiled softly and held his hand.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” I said with confidence. He nodded a smile on his face. He had met Fred only a few days before, but Fred did ask for his permission and he willingly gave the two of us his blessing.

“I know you are, sweetie,” he said finally. He put out his arm and I gladly took it. “Ready?”

I nodded and assembled myself in line behind my bridesmaids and the music began to play.

I watched as Ginny took her first steps down the white path leading to the altar, followed by Fleur and finally Hermione, my maid of honor. She must have mouthed something funny to Fred because I saw him chuckle a little as she got to the altar.

“Daddy,” I said before I walked out. “…You were always my first love.” He didn’t say anything but as I began to walk down the aisle I heard him sniffling.

I finally looked up and met Fred’s eyes when he saw me for the first time. Wow…he looked so handsome standing there. I literally felt my heart stop beating, yet I was still walking. He made my heart melt, my insides curl, my head swoon. He really was my everything, and I was so ready to claim him mine forever. The look on his face was simply priceless and a rush of butterflies came over me as I smiled back at him. I couldn’t even describe the look on his face. All I could really say was that he looked so happy and so in awe and, all of a sudden, it was just the two of us and everyone else had disappeared. He shook my dad’s hand and heard my father say, “Take care of her,” and Fred nodded. He finally took my hand and then the other when I reached the altar.

As the ceremony began, I really couldn’t hear much of what was going on and I doubted Fred could either. We just kept gazing into each others’ eyes and that thing kept happening where we became lost in them. I didn’t care though. I didn’t want to be anywhere else unless he was there with me. God, it was so hard not to kiss him right then and there.

“And now the vows,” said the priest presiding the ceremony. He turned to me first. “Do you, Emma Corinne Blakely, take Fred Weasley, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish all the days of your life, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, to have and to hold from this day forward, ‘til death do you part?”

“I do,” I said softly, a smile growing on my face. A smile crept across Fred’s, too, as the priest turned to him.

“And do you, Fred Weasley, take Emma Corinne Blakely, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish all the days of your life, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, to have and to hold from this day forward, ‘til death do you part?” He smirked before he answered, his eyes only on me.

“More than ever!” he finally said in an excited tone. I laughed and a huge grin emerged onto my face.

“Then I declare you bounded for life,” said the priest. “You may now kiss – ” But Fred got to my lips before he could finish. Our friends and family laughed at his eagerness and I couldn’t help but smile. As I was kissing him, however, I suddenly got that vision from my dream again, where when I broke away Oliver was standing there, not Fred. I broke away and dared to open my eyes. But when I did…there was…OLIVER?!

Just kidding.

I smiled as I looked at my husband, Mr. Fred Weasley, and with more eagerness and joy, I kissed him back with passion and vigor, my arms entangled around his neck. He dipped me down as he continued kissing me and our guests cheered and applauded.

“I now pronounce you, Mr. and Mrs. Fred and Emma Weasley!” the priest announced once I finished kissing Fred. Everyone stood to their feet and I couldn’t help but laugh and smile as Fred and I walked down the aisle back to the Weasley household.

It was official. I was Mrs. Emma Weasley. And, man, was it finally good to be her.

Soft kisses on my neck woke me from my sleep and as I turned my head away from them, not wanting to get up, they became harder and harder to resist.

“Baby…” his soft voice sang in my ear. I could hear the smile on his face as he continued to kiss my neck and ear and shoulder. I wanted to fight the grin that was trying to appear on my face but I couldn’t.

“Really, Fred? Trust me, I can look a lot better with a few more minutes,” I said, turning over to go back to sleep.

“Babe, you couldn’t look more beautiful if you tried,” Fred argued, turning me over on your back. I rolled my eyes but I didn’t fight him. He leaned down and kissed me on the lips.

“Happy anniversary,” he said once he broke away. I smirked.

“Happy anniversary.” He leaned down and kissed me again, our passion increasing. It was a slow, steady kiss but the passion was picking up quick. He straddled over me and balanced himself above me as I ran my fingers along the sides of his face and in through his hair. As the kiss grew in passion, so did the desires of my body. Fred’s hands were soon slowly walking up underneath my cami and tracing the curves of my torso while my fingers ran over his athletic abs on his stomach and muscles on his biceps. I shifted his T-shirt higher and he took a break from kissing me to take it off. He kissed me a little longer before flipping me over so I was now on top and I pulled my cami over my head, exposing my chest.

“How ‘bout I make you some breakfast for our anniversary?” I seduced him in between giving Fred kisses on the neck and chest.

“What are you hungry for?” he asked, knowing full well what I intended. I sat up, straddling him with my light blue lace underwear, and ran my hand through my hair, licking my lips.

“Sausage,” I said with a wink. Almost immediately the fire kicked in and he sat up and touched the skin on my back as we made out, my arms around him. We made love in that position and then collapsed onto each other when we finally were finished.

“I swear, Em…you get sexier every day,” Fred said in between his panting and catching his breath. I laughed.

“Fred,” I started. “We haven’t had sex every day this year.”

“You don’t have to have sex with me in order to be sexy,” Fred clarified. “I mean, do you ever look at yourself? …You’re so…damn…hot…” he half-whispered the last sentence as he slowly graced his hand over my ass. Man, that turned me on. I giggled and pulled him in for a kiss, which in return forced him on top of me again. We kissed for a few minutes before I finally broke away.

“Ugh, but baby, we were just starting to have fun!” he whined. I rolled my eyes and started to get dressed.

“I know, sweetie, but if we have sex all morning there won’t be any left for tonight,” I said with a wink. He sighed but he got the hint and got dressed too.

There was something special I were hoping to tell Fred tonight…that is, if it was really true. I was a few weeks late…okay, maybe it had been a month? And I had been feeling a bit nauseous lately as well. From what I could remember, these were signs of…pregnancy…but I didn’t want to tell Fred unless I was absolutely positive.

When we went downstairs, George and Molly were sitting at the table. Molly immediately dropped what she was doing and got up to hug us.

“Happy first anniversary!” she sang as she hugged me, then Fred. “And many more to come!”

“Thanks Mum,” Fred said, giving her a peck on the cheek. I sat next to George at the table and gave him a quick peck on the cheek as well.

“Morning, George,” I said.

“Morning,” George replied, not taking his eyes off of The Daily Prophet in front of him. Word had been that Voldemort had returned, but this time he meant war. No one really wanted to believe it, but because Harry was so close to our family, everyone was on their toes. Suddenly, Arthur stormed in through the doorway, a cold-stone look on his face. We gave him our immediate attention, concerned by his expression. What the heck was going on?!

“…He’s back,” Arthur said, with fear in his eyes. Everyone stared in silence for a moment trying to figure out what he meant…praying to God it wasn’t what was on everyone’s mind.

“Who’s back, Arthur?” Molly said slowly as she stood. He paused…trying to figure out how to say it…or scared to.

“…Voldemort.”

You could hear a pin drop in the room from how quiet it was. And the smell of fear in everyone’s bodies didn’t help either.

“He’s back. And it’s true…the Battle of Hogwarts… He’s coming, soon,” Arthur continued. Molly put her hand on George’s shoulder to stable herself and Fred took my hand so as to reassure me…but it didn’t help.

“And we all know why he’s coming back…” Arthur went on. “He wants Harry. If he gets Harry, he gets us all.” The words hung in the air, each one sinking in deeper and deeper as he went on to explain the situation.

“Then…that means…” I said, realizing where he was going with this.

“Yes,” he started again. He looked to the floor for a moment, before saying what we all knew, what we all were thinking. “We’re going to have to fight.”

“Oh Arthur,” Molly said, running to him. He wrapped his arms around her as she grieved in his chest. The rest of us just looked to the floor, to the wall, out a window…anywhere to process the information we had just received.

“Well,” Molly began after she calmed herself. “Harry is like a son to us.”

“Yeah, thanks to Ginny,” George muttered under his breath. It was nice to know his humor was still intact despite all this.

“Shh! Harry is, be it through blood or not, a part of our family. And we must protect him,” Molly preached, fervor in her voice. She left the room and Arthur followed. Eventually, George went somewhere as well and it was just Fred and I sitting together. We sat there in separate chairs at first, until I finally burst into his arms, wrapping mine around his neck while I buried my face into it.

“Baby…” he said softly, trying to calm me. He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. It was amazing how that made me feel safer…more secure. Oh goodness, how could I live without him?

“I’m scared, Fred,” I whispered, closing my eyes. “What if something happens to one of us?”

“Shh…” he said. “Look at me.” I moved my head so that I was staring straight at him only a few inches away, literally sitting on top of him. “You can’t think like that, okay? That’s exactly what he wants us to think. He wants to scare us, beat us with our own fear. We know what to do; we know how to defend ourselves. That’s why we were a part of Dumbledore’s Army, remember?” He paused before continuing, allowing me to recall the memory. Of course, I did.

“I’m scared too, baby,” he confessed. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to fight. That I’m not going to do my best to protect Harry or you or our future. Okay?” He caressed the side of my face and planted a soft, gentle kiss on my lips.

“You are my everything, you know that?” he said, locking eyes with mine. I nodded as I became lost in his eyes.

“And you are mine,” I whispered. I kissed him on the lips, and tried not to think about if there would be many of those kisses left. The thought itself made my heart shatter and I couldn’t bear to think of it. I grasped his head between my hands and kissed him with more passion as his gripped around my sides. I wondered if he was thinking it too. And though I never had before, I decided to not take any of the precious little things for granted…not when there was so much uncertainty lingering in the air.

My nausea had gotten worse. And I still hadn’t gotten my period. I knew what this meant, at least I was pretty positive. I had written my concerns to Hermione via letter and she had responded back with a home pregnancy test. Because I was half-blood, I had heard about some things of the Muggle world, but because it was my dad who was Muggle, it’s not like he ever talked about a home pregnancy test before. I read the directions and opened the box.

‘You pee on this?’ I thought. Ugh. Muggles were so weird.

I proceeded to pee on it and waited for it, drying it out by waving it in the air. I kept checking and nothing had appeared. I wondered if that meant I wasn’t pregnant and in a way, it made me really sad. Fred and I had been married a year and though we were living with Molly and Arthur still, we had planned to move into an apartment and start a family, eventually buying our own house. I checked again and realized something was beginning to appear on the small screen. My eyes were glued to the stick, which I still thought was a little silly. Suddenly, the answer stared back right at me.

Yes. I was pregnant.

* * * * *

I tried to hide my fear because I knew in this battle fear was my worst enemy. But that was beginning to seem impossible. Honestly, how could I do this?! I had just discovered I was pregnant. PREGNANT. I shouldn’t be in a battle while I’m pregnant. It’s worse than drinking Firewhiskey or inhaling potions. It wasn’t just about me anymore. I had a baby to take care of.

The thing is, Fred didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to know yet…during the battle and everything. I was nervous how he’d take it and that it might distract him. The reality is everyone had to look after themselves, despite Fred’s promise to protect me and everyone he loves. Everyone needed to protect themselves at this point…except me, I supposed. I needed to protect my baby and myself now.

“How you feeling?” Fred asked, breaking my thoughts. I pressed my lips together and didn’t try to hide the dread in my eyes.

“C’mere,” he said bringing me into him. I wrapped my arms around him and softly let a few tears fall. I was absolutely terrified. That was the truth. He kissed my forehead for awhile before letting go, but I didn’t want him to so I clung to him longer. I looked up at him and saw that his eyes were wet. He could hardly fight back the tears either…he was scared too…

“We’re going to win, right?” I asked. “That’s what matters.”

“Yeah,” Fred said, nodding softly. He kissed my forehead and we readied ourselves for the attack.

McGonagall had put a protective dome over the castle and, from up on one of the balconies atop the castle with Fred and George, it almost looked beautiful. But the beauty faded as its meaning sunk into me and I knew it was drawing near…that it was only a matter of time. I took Fred’s hand as well as George’s and waited, never leaving their grasp.

They tried to lighten the mood with jokes and memories, but the fear still trembled in their voices and time only slipped faster away with every second.

Finally, an orange light hit the dome and I began to see parts of it dissolve, breaking the protective dome. Tears ran down my face as I realized what was happening. It was time. It was time to fight.

“…Time to go,” George said, reluctance in his voice. I threw myself into his arms and hugged him. He was my best friend and my brother, and there was no way I could lose him. He hugged me back and when he let me go, Fred took my hand and brought me in to kiss him. His hands framed my face as he kissed me passionately. But the kiss didn’t make me feel a lot better because it was filled with urgency, fear and uncertainty. I didn’t like that…it only made me more scared.

“I love you, Emma Weasley,” he whispered after breaking away. I gazed into his eyes and tried to get lost in them.

“I love you too, Fred,” I answered back. I couldn’t find that happy place in his eyes and I could tell he was searching for it in mine, too. But we couldn’t find it right now…we had to go.

We walked into the castle and positioned ourselves, wands ready, hearts pounding. I tried to be brave. Come on, I was in Gryffindor! I knew the courage had to be in me somewhere. That was what set me apart from any other house. If I hadn’t of had it, I would have been put in Ravenclaw or something. Suddenly, my thoughts turned to my stomach. I clutched onto my belly and a whole new fear washed over me. This was for my baby. This was for my child’s future. And suddenly, I gained the courage.

But a new courage suddenly formed in me as well. I turned to Fred and looked at my husband, the father of my child.

“Fred?” I started. He turned to me, eyes locked into mine. I paused, struggling for the words before I finally found them.

“I’m – ” But I was cut off by the scream of death eaters and Voldemort’s army charging through. Immediately, I began to fight, fighting for the life of my child, for the life of myself, for the life of Harry Potter, my close friend and teammate. He really was one of the family; and family, well, there’s just no compromise for it.

The battle went on for what seemed like hours, and everywhere I turned I saw students and professors – no, wizards and witches – fall to the ground, wounded, or worse…dead. I tried to let my inner courage override my inner fear. My future was my motivation, my family was my anchor and my child was my source of bravery. I fought with bravery, so much more than I thought I had in me.

‘This,’ I thought. ‘This is why I was chosen to be in Gryffindor.’

I rounded a corner and I was alone, or that’s what it seemed. I didn’t notice a death eater standing behind me ready to cast me dead, but someone else did.

“Avada kadavra!” Fred said, striking the person behind me. I turned around and saw the death eater fall to the floor. Fred immediately came to my aid and kissed my lips. He was dirty, sweaty and his clothes tattered and torn, but all the same he was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen in my life. I didn’t want to stop kissing but I knew I had to. We were in the middle of a war after all.

“Be careful,” he warned as he went off. I followed him, striking death eaters and those part of Voldemort’s Army as I did. I found myself in between Fred and George in the Great Hall, and it was bittersweet for me. For one, there was nowhere else I’d rather be than fighting next to these two at the moment. On the other hand, I wish I could be anywhere else than fighting in between these two…anywhere else…any other circumstance. I was growing tired and I wondered if it was partially due to my pregnancy, but I pressed on. I could not get tired right now. I couldn’t!! Getting tired, resting, giving up meant death in this battle. And I would not sacrifice rest for my baby’s or my own life.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion to my right and I couldn’t find Fred.

“Emma, let him go!” George yelled from beside me. “Let him go!” I saw the death eater that had struck the explosion and immediately every bone in my body, every muscle and vein was in high acceleration. Heading straight for the death eater, my wand in aim, I let out a scream and prepared to strike.

“Avada kadavra!” I screamed and struck him dead. I panted, heavily, and the room suddenly grew quiet. People stopped fighting and then I heard the voice of Voldemort through the halls.

“You have fought valiantly,” he said, the eeriness slithering in his voice. “Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses and if you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one” (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, page 529). My eyes searched for George, for Fred, for anyone who could comfort me, but I found no one.

He then went on to speak to Harry, but I couldn’t even concentrate on the words. All I cared about was getting out of here alive.

Soon it got quiet. My heart pounded heavy with the news. I then heard Molly scream bloody murder. When I turned my head in the direction of the scream, my heart sank at the site. She was hovered over a body laid on the floor, right by the site of the explosion.

“Fred!” I screamed. I ran over, and to my utmost horror, laid Fred, bloody, battered and bruised. He was still a bit conscious and he cried out in agony. “Fred!!”

“Ahhhh!!!!” he screamed in pain.

“Molly,” I said turning to her, my fear overflowing out of me. “Molly, what do we do?!”

“My Fred, my dear Fred!” she just kept saying and Arthur pulled her away as he tried to calm her down. George finally had made his way over and sank down next to Fred as the sight of his brother took hold of him.

“Fred!” he said, taking his hand.

“George,” he managed to say, seeing the sight of his brother. I was crying, crying harder than I had ever before. I couldn’t watch my husband like this, but I couldn’t turn away either.

(“Turning Page” – Sleeping at Last)

“Hi baby,” his voice whispered, breaking my thoughts. He took my hand and the tears fell like waterfalls from my eyes.

“Emma…” he whispered, his eyes full of sadness. And I knew the answer right there and then. No…he wouldn’t be okay…my husband…my best friend…the love of my life…was dying.

“No…” I whispered. “No, Fred. No!! No, don’t leave me! You can’t leave me!!” I was sobbing, absolutely bawling my eyes out. I was absolutely hysterical; I didn’t even care. My heart was breaking second by second and there was no way to mend it.

I watched his eyes grow big as the news sunk in. I heard gasps around us from the Weasley family as well, and from my peripheral vision saw George’s head snap in my direction.

“You’re what?!” Fred snapped. I could see there were millions of questions in his eyes, but he didn’t have time to ask them, which broke my heart even more.

“I’m pregnant…Fred…don’t – ”

“Shhh…” Fred shushed me, but he coughed a couple times before continuing. His coughs were getting worse and it scared me all the more. He looked up at me and pulled my head down to him so he could kiss my lips. It was the saddest kiss I ever had with Fred, but it was the most passionate, most urgent, most aggressive kiss all at the same time. This was the last kiss I’d ever have with him, and I pressed my lips harder to him as I kissed him, the love of my life, forever and always. His hand moved from my head to my hand as I very slowly broke away. Neither of us wanted to, but we had to. He looked into my eyes and I became lost.

“I love you,” he began. “I’ll always love you.” He gently placed my hand to my stomach, his still holding it and looked up at me again.

“Both of you,” he continued and I knew he was referring to our child. “Forever. Don’t…ever…forget that…promise me.” His voice was dwindling down to a whisper and soft tears ran down my cheeks.

“…I promise,” I whispered, barely able to get out the words. He gave a quick smile, then turned to George and took his hand.

“And you, you big gloat,” he said, humor in his voice. “You take care of them, okay?”

“Oh, I’ll make sure of that. I’ll take care of them real good,” George said with a wink. Typical Weasley brothers…they joke and humor each other even in the direst of moments. Fred laughed, which made us all manage some smiles and laughter as well. And then…suddenly…his laughter faded…and then did the color in his face…the temperature in his hands…and the light in his eyes.

And though we were all just laughing with Fred, I realized that this was the reality. I would never laugh with Fred again. For Fred Weasley, my husband and best friend, was dead.

I collapsed onto him and sobbed my eyes out. So did everyone else as the Weasley family surrounded him. Suddenly, Ron appeared with Harry and Hermione, and he too, began to sob uncontrollably. Hermione came to my side and tried to comfort me as I sobbed onto Fred’s body, but nothing, absolutely nothing could ever comfort me from this. The love of my life, my best friend, was gone. And no amount of magic would ever be able to bring him back.